Khabib Nurmagomedov releases statement on airplane dispute incident

Khabib Nurmagomedov has issued a statement regarding the viral footage that saw the UFC legend removed from an airplane after a verbal dispute with a flight attendant.

In a clip that spread across social media Sunday, Nurmagomedov was seen exiting an airplane after an attendant asked him to change seats. The retired 36-year-old protested the request, which appeared to be over his ability to communicate in English in the event of an emergency. Nurmagomedov repeatedly told the attendant that the situation was “not fair,” but he eventually acquiesced.

Nurmagomedov has now released a statement regarding the incident, which can be seen below.

First of all, I need to clarify that it was [Frontier Airlines], not Alaska Air.

Lady who comes to me with questions was very rude from the very beginning, even though I speak very decent English and can understand everything and agreed to assist, she still insists on removing me from my seat. What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.

But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft, after [an hour and a half] I boarded another airline one and left to my destination.

I did my best to stay calm and respectful as you can see on the video.

But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.

Initially, it was reported that Alaska Airlines was the organization in question, but Nurmagomedov stated that he was actually on a Frontier Airlines flight. He added that he feels he handled the conversation in a civil manner, but that the flight attendant was “very rude” and he questioned whether the incident was motivated by “racial” or “national” bias.

According to Nurmagomedov, he boarded a flight with a different airline 90 minutes later.

“Those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients,” he said at the end of his message.

Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz also released a statement to MMA Fighting, saying, “Some things happen to you maybe in a negative way but Khabib always comes out on top because of his mannerism and his class. This is who he is as a human being.”

Following news of the incident becoming widespread, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement in support of Nurmagomedov demanding an investigation into the airline’s policies and conduct. CAIR also misidentified Alaska Airlines as the organization in question.

Nurmagomedov is set to corner teammates Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov in their title fights at UFC 311 this Saturday in Los Angeles. Makhachev defends his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event, and Umar Nurmagomedov challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event.

Damon Martin contributed to this report.