(NEXSTAR) – Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was removed from a Frontier Airways flight on Saturday after refusing to state whether he would be able to assist other travelers in the event of an emergency, a spokesperson for Frontier told Nexstar on Monday.
Nurmagomedov on Sunday had previously shared a slightly different version of events, claiming he did agree to assist despite “rude” treatment from a member of the crew.
He also suggested that there may have been “racial” or “national” motivations for booting him from the plane — allegations which Frontier has denied.
Nurmagomedov, 36, was seated in the exit row of a flight preparing to leave for San Francisco from Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport. Footage taken by another passenger (and shared on TikTok) appears to show a crew member speaking to Nurmagomedov after an earlier interaction with a different crew member.
“OK, so what we’re going to do is we’re either going to have you switch your seat, because my flight attendants are not allowing you to sit in the exit row, or you’re going to have to get off this plane,” the crew member, whom Frontier identified as a gate agent, could be heard telling Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov responds, appearing to claim that her treatment toward him is “not fair.”
“I’m not going to do this back-and-forth,” the agent later responds, before indicating that she would be calling a supervisor to get Nurmagomedov removed and booked on another flight.
The footage later shows Nurmagomedov getting up and leaving the plane.
Nurmagomedov claimed Sunday on Instagram that the Frontier agent was “very rude from the very beginning, even though I speak very decent English,” and that she had approached him after he already agreed to assist other passengers in an emergency, if needed.
About his removal from the plane, he said: “What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.”
He confirmed he was rebooked on another flight to San Francisco about an hour and a half after he was deplaned.
“I did my best to stay calm and respectful as you can see on the video,” he wrote. “But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.”
A spokesperson for Frontier, in an emailed statement to Nexstar, said Nurmagomedov did not respond when initially 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 statement read.
Frontier claims they also offered to move his seat — as heard in the video — but he declined and was removed from the flight.
“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,” Frontier said.
Nurmagomedov, from Russia, retired from mixed martial arts in 2020 with an undefeated record (29 wins, no losses) in the UFC. He was inducted into the league’s Hall of Fame in 2022.