UFC fighter Khabib questions racial bias after being removed from Frontier Airlines flight

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov said he was escorted off a Frontier Airlines flight, following a seating dispute with the airline staff at a Las Vegas airport on Saturday.

The issue centered around whether Nurmagomedov, a Muslim whose seat was in the plane’s exit row, would be able to assist other passengers in an emergency.

Widely circulated social media videos show the Russian mixed martial arts fighter having a conversation with a flight attendant, who is heard telling Nurmagomedov: “We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row … I am not going to do this back and forth. I will call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.”

The retired UFC fighter was heard telling the flight attendant, “It’s not fair,” and that he fully complied with the staff during the boarding process. He added: “When I was in check-in, they asked me, do I know English … and I said ‘yes.’ Then why do you guys do this?”

The airline staff manager was heard on the video repeatedly offering him an alternative seat on the plane or take another flight. Nurmagomedov said the flight attendant called security after two minutes and he was “deplaned.”

Frontier Airlines has not yet made a comment.

On Monday Nurmagomedov posted the flight ticket on his Instagram account, clarifying that the incident had occurred on Frontier Airlines flight after it was initially reported to be AlaskaAir, and questioned if he had been racially profiled.

“I speak very decent English and can understand everything. I agreed to assist. She still insists on removing me from my seat,” he said, adding: “Lady who comes to me with questions was very rude from the very beginning.”

He said he boarded another plane after an hour-and-a-half.

Nurmagomedov is a 29-time unbeaten MMA fighter, and is considered one of the all-time greats in UFC.