Now retired from the UFC, Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov is in the headlines over a viral video of him experiencing a verbal dispute on a plane with a Frontier Airlines employee.

In the video, which has made its rounds on social media, Nurmagomedov and a female Frontier worker go back and forth over his seat in an exit row. Initially, Nurmagomedov states that he knows the language (English), but the woman he’s speaking with says, “It’s not about the language.” The woman told the UFC champion that he must switch his seat or deplane. She claimed flight attendants were uncomfortable and couldn’t allow Nurmagomedov to remain seated where he was.

The MMA champion spoke to the woman from the exit row seat and questioned why he had to move. He said he told Frontier’s staff during check-in that he was familiar with the requirements for sitting in the exit row. He repeatedly stated that the situation he was being put in was “not fair.” The end of the footage shows him deplaning the aircraft.

A video of retired UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov being escorted off an Alaska Airlines flight has gone viral.

It appears staff reported feeling 'uncomfortable' with his apparent grasp of English as he sat in an exit row seat where he would need to assist in an emergency. pic.twitter.com/Bf7S7jLji6
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 12, 2025

On social media, the UFC champion claimed that a woman had been “very rude” to him despite him speaking English and agreeing to assist (assumably in case of an emergency as someone in the exit row).

“What was the base for that,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “Racial, national, or other one, I’m not sure.”

“She called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft,” he recalled of the incident. After noting that he eventually flew to his destination via another airline, he added, “I did my best to stay calm and respectful, as you can see [in] the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Хабиб Нурмагомедов (@khabib_nurmagomedov)

Has Frontier Airlines Responded To The Plane Video Featuring Khabib Nurmagomedov?

Frontier Airlines shared a statement addressing the exit row dispute. The address included information about the incident, such as where and when it happened.

“On January 11, 2025, as flight 4401 from Las Vegas to San Francisco was preparing for departure, a flight attendant initiated the customary briefing for exit row passengers,” Frontier said in part, according to CNN. “Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated in an exit row, was asked multiple times if he was willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency. According to the flight attendant, Mr. Nurmagomedov did not respond, despite repeated attempts, which placed him in non-compliance with FAA requirements.”

“The decision to deplane the customer was in no way related to his ethnicity, and we have refunded him and his traveling companions for their flights,” the statement added.