Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most recognized faces and names in the sport of MMA, however, that didn’t stop a dispute with a flight attendant on a commercial flight.
On January 18 at UFC 311, the former UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, will be in for an extremely busy night when he corners back-to-back fights for the co-main and main event.
In the co-main event, his cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov looks to maintain his undefeated record when he takes on Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title, and in the main event, his long-time friend, Islam Makhachev looks to defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan.
Khabib Nurmagomedov involved in dispute with flight staff as video goes viral
Ahead of his fight against Tsarukyan, in which he has the chance to break the record for the most amount of title defenses in the lightweight division, Makhachev has been finishing his preparation at the UFC PI in Las Vegas.
With UFC 311 scheduled to take place in Los Angeles despite the terrifying wildfires over this past week, Khabib and a few of the team were seen boarding a flight, reportedly departing from Las Vegas, and arriving in LA for the beginning of fight week.
However, viral footage has surfaced online after Nurmagomedov got involved in a dispute with a member of the flight team, which subsequently led to him being escorted off the plane.
The disagreement allegedly began out of confusion as it was claimed that the former UFC champion was asked to confirm that he could help other passengers off the plane in case of an emergency as he was sat in the emergency aisle, which is a regular procedure.
Despite that, ‘The Eagle’ was subsequently left confused by the question which led to a brief dispute with the flight attendant.
“I know the language and I know how to help people,” Khabib pleaded.
“It’s not about the language. So what we’re gonna do is we’re either gonna have you switch seats because my flight attendants are not allowing you to sit in the exit row, or you’re gonna have to get off this plane because they’re not comfortable with you sitting in the exit row,” she replied.
“It’s not fair. You guys when I was checking in asked me do I know English and I said, ‘Yes’, it’s not fair,” Khabib argued.
The flight attendant quickly called for back-up from her supervisor who quickly came onto the plane and escorted the former UFC star off the flight.
Khabib Nurmagomedov saved by his manager Ali Abdelaziz
Following the altercation, it seemed as though Khabib and his friend who he was on the flight with were left at their departure destination.
This isn’t the first time team Khabib has run into issues regarding flights, as his late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov was denied visas to enter the US for several years during ‘The Eagle’s’ fight career.
Despite the altercation and Nurmagomedov’s subsequent removal from the flight, it seems as though he was saved by his manager and longtime friend, Ali Abdelaziz.
The image posted to Khabib’s Instagram page shows the Russian in the same clothing he was wearing in the video, outside of what seems to be an airport.
Fortunately for the team, the 36-year-old still has plenty of time to make his way to Inglewood before UFC 311 on Saturday night.