Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov alleges racism after being removed from flight
Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov alleges racism after being removed from flight
Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov alleged to have been subjected to racist behaviour after he was removed from a flight in the United States of America on Sunday, January 12, the video of which has gone viral on social media.
In the video, Khabib is seen exiting the aircraft after being asked to leave by the staff.
The former MMA fighter took to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), asking for clarification, and said he was confused as to why he was asked to leave the aircraft.
Khabib alleged that one of the flight’s staff members was rude to him from the start and asked: “What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.”
“First of all, I need to clarify that it was Fly Frontier, not AlaskaAir. 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,” Khabib wrote on X.
“But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft, after 1.5 hours I boarded another airline and left for 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,” the former UFC champion concluded.
Former Lightweight title contender Michael Chandler, in response to the incident, wrote on X: “Can you imagine, an emergency happens on your plane and you would prefer a ‘perfect’ speaking human instead of one of the greatest athletes of all time because you’re ‘uncomfortable’ with his ability to speak English(which is very good, btw) – this is bizarre. Not only was he the most physically capable human being on the plane but I’m pretty sure the ONLY qualification to sitting in the exit row is being able to say the word yes.”
