UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov removed from Alaska Airlines flight

Khabib Nurmagomedov, a Hall of Fame UFC fighter, was escorted off a flight he was taking to Los Angeles when footage of the incident at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas emerged online.

The dispute centred around whether Nurmagomedov, who was sitting in the plane’s exit row, was prepared, or able, to help other passengers in the event of an emergency.

An Alaska Airlines flight attendant is seen questioning the 36-year-old if he could assist others from his window exit seat in the video.

The flight attendant is reportedly saying, “We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row… I am not going to do this back and forth,” after the incident was recorded on another passenger’s mobile phone. I’ll go call a supervisor. You have two options: changing seats, or having us escort you off the plane.

Nurmagomedov responded to the flight attendant by saying, “It’s not fair”. He is also heard to say that he had fully complied with the flight crew during the onboarding process, and added: “When I was in check-in, they asked me do I know English… and I say yes. Then why you guys do this”?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend’s manager, who was not happy with the flight attendant’s offer to take another seat, was repeatedly spotted on the video offering Nurmagomedov another seat and giving him the option to take another flight. Nurmagomedov and his traveling companions were later escorted off the aircraft, according to reports.

Before the UFC 311 event on January 18 in Los Angeles, Nevada in the US, it is thought that Nurmagomedov was taking a plane to California to cheer on his teammates.

Nurmagomedov, a Muslim, was unbeaten (29-0) in his UFC career and is considered by many to be one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.