Mumbai, January 12: In an embarrassing incident, UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov was kicked out of a flight allegedly due to his poor English while he was travelling along with his associates in the united States. The incident occurred after he was involved in a disagreement with airline staff at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The incident was recorded by other passengers present on the aircraft and the video of the embarrassing incident for the former UFC fighter is going viral on social media.
Details About The Dispute
The altercation, which occurred on Saturday (January 11), led to Khabib being escorted off the Alaska Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles. The dispute occurred over Khabib's seat in the plane’s emergency exit row. Airline staff questioned whether the 36-year-old was prepared or able to assist other passengers in case of an emergency, as required for those seated in exit rows.
In the video, a flight attendant can be seen informing Khabib, “We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row. I am not going to do this back and forth. I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.”
Khabib Claims He Knows English
Khabib responded, calling the situation “not fair” and explaining that he had complied with the flight crew during the boarding process. He added, “When I was in check-in, they asked me, ‘Do I know English?’ and I say yes. Then why you guys do this?”
Despite his protests, the flight attendant's manager was brought in and repeatedly offered Khabib an alternative seat or the option to take another flight. Eventually, Khabib and his travelling companions were escorted off the aircraft.
It can be seen in the video that Khabib gets up and leaves the aircraft in embarrassment. His companions are seen getting up and taking their luggage out of the overhead compartment and getting down the flight.
The incident is believed to have occurred as Khabib was traveling to California to support his teammates ahead of the UFC 311 event in Los Angeles. The event is scheduled to take place on January 18.
The internet users are giving mixed reactions to the incident. One of the users said, "The crew did the right thing. If someone seems even remotely not comfortable helping people in an emergency situation, then they should be moved. If they did in fact ask him multiple times and he did not respond with any answer other than “yes” then they did do the right thing by asking him to either change seats or get off the plane. This isn’t rocket science. If they didn’t then yes they messed up. Simple as that."
Another said, "The flight attendant should be fired! That simple misunderstanding did not rise to the level that would warrant him being kicked off—especially after he subsequently agreed to perform the actions required in an event of an emergency!"
No Statement From The Airlines So Far
Khabib, who is a devout Muslim and one of the most respected figures in mixed martial arts, retired with an undefeated record of 29-0 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. Both Alaska Airlines and Khabib Nurmagomedov have yet to issue statements regarding the incident.
