Khabib Nurmagomedov removed from U.S. flight after dispute for not speaking good enough English to sit at the emergency exit
Thursday, 13 Mar 2025
Exclusive insights, data, and analysis for financial market experts.
Search
Have an existing account?
Sign In
The disagreement appeared to be over Nurmagomedov’s English-speaking skills in regards to his ability to assist other passengers in an emergency, as he was seated next to one of the emergency exits.
“I know the language,” Nurmagomedov told the attendant. “I know how to help people.”
“It’s not about the language,” the attendant replied.
Nurmagomedov then questioned the source of the complaint and the dialogue continued as follows:
*Attendant: 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 … because they’re not comfortable with you sitting in the exit row.*
*Nurmagomedov: Who isn’t comfortable?*
*Attendant: My flight attendants.*
*Nurmagomedov: It’s not fair.*
*Attendant: It is fair.*
*Nurmagomedov: It’s not fair. You guys, when I checked in, they asked me, do I know English? Yes, I said.*
*Attendant: They said yes, I understand that, but it’s also off of their judgment. I’m not going to do this back and forth. I will call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.*
*Nurmagomedov: It’s not fair.*
*Attendant: Which one are we doing?*
Nurmagomedov made it clear he just wanted to ~~SMESHHH~~ remain in his seat, but eventually departed.
Link to article: [https://www.mmafighting.com/2025/1/12/24341982/video-khabib-nurmagomedov-removed-from-plane-after-exit-row-dispute](https://www.mmafighting.com/2025/1/12/24341982/video-khabib-nurmagomedov-removed-from-plane-after-exit-row-dispute)
Link to video: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jGjfW-oN_CU?feature=share](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jGjfW-oN_CU?feature=share)
“Your English isn’t good enough”
As she sits there arguing with him in English…
If I had to fly a flight and Khabib was sitting by the exit door, I wouldn’t have a problem.
this is fucked up. he was arguing in english.
Anyone that follows MMA knows Khatib speaks fluent English and has been a part of many multi hour podcasts, carrying on conversations in English without a translator. Surely this is a lawsuit in the making.
So your options are in an emergency situation to have a world class athlete with great strength and stamina but an accent operating your emergency exit, or a 60 year old accountant named Bob, who’s 3 deep from the airport bar?
Pick wisely.
My x-girlfriend (french) and I were asked to move as well because she could not speak English. She new a little bit but struggled to understand, So we did. The only thing I dont like about this bull shit is they move you but there is no refund on the money you pay to have those seats.
No wonder why the rich prefer to fly private.
Imagine being calm, educated, perfectly able and willing to help others in case of an emergency
And an idiot flight attendant just decides to abuse her power to fuck with you.
I like that they explained all of this to him in English.
Khabib would be the one person I would 100% trust in an emergency. They actually made the flight less safe by removing him
Brother. This is Number1 bullshit
His English was good enough to have a conversation with him.
Flight attendants being like the Harvard prison experiment guards.
Give people a little bit of power and you discover who they really are.
Edit: Yale not Harvard. Ooops
Appreciate the post, but this is not interesting as fuck
Stewardess Karen – “Hey, Dave we are gonna need your help removing a passenger from the plane.”
Steward Dave takes a look…
“Go fuck yourself.”
The attendant must have been a Connor fan 🤣🤣
This is my job. We do this at the checkin or at the gate. It makes no sense to do this when the person is already in the airplane – it is actually against the rules and we could lose our salary. My guess somebody from the attendant staff didnt like him
So let me get this straight, it’s an emergency seat, and they need somebody there who knows English and is capable of helping if something unexpected happens.
They have a guy sitting there, healthy male still in his prime, who knows English, is one of the former top athlete’s in extremely high stakes sport where you need to make serious desicions in a split second because your life/success depends on it. He is also healthy and physically able, great reflexes… yet he is not qualified enough to be sitting there.
My question is, who the fuck is then a qualified person to sit there.
Dis door no probrem. I smesh this guy.
I feel it wasn’t about his English speaking capabilities. 🦅🦅
Since he clearly showed he knows English quite well, it seems it’s more about racism than anything
I was just on a flight two days ago on United. Same thing the guy next to me barely spoke English and the FA (she) said we may have to switch you if you can’t speak English clearly. It’s about effective communication in an emergency, you don’t want someone who is struggling with most of the people on the plane native language when SHYTe hits the fan.
If we were in China/Russia/Another country where I don’t know the language very well, by all means, move me somewhere where I won’t be a problem in an emergency.
This guy seemed to be responding to her questions, so I am not sure what’s going on here
He chose to be removed rather than switch seats.
I have to accept that having a history of panicking during a flight, I cannot sit next to the emergency exit. If there are s any question that somebody may not fully understand instructions or be able to give clear instructions, they have to move.The flight staff have to feel comfortable with the person.
What a weird comment section. He was asked originally if he was willing to help in an emergency and he said no (not understanding the question) the staff can’t mess around with this.
They don’t kick you off they just switch your seats
Mandatory “Why do I need subtitles?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN666q3ptAU
whats interesting as fuck about this?
I’ve seen this one time in all my years. An elderly Indian couple that didn’t hear well or speak English were in an emergency exit row. When the air crew comes over to give the spiel they couldn’t understand her. They were asked to move.
Apparently you need a triple phd in English literature to be able to help people while sitting in an emergency row on a plane.
Undefeated UFC champion deemed incapable of assisting in an emergency. Hilarious.
The remove him, but old and fat people can stay, and I don’t trust them at all to be able to handle an emergency situation.
Now imagine Conor in that seat 😂
This reminds me of this BBC skit: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUm-2x-2dM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUm-2x-2dM)
No good explanation for this guy flying coach. I know middle managers who insist on first class. Dude’s gotta be worth tens of millions and his cost of living is “Dagestan.”
All you got to do is nod and say yes.
It is the discretion of the flight attendant assigned to that section of the aircraft whether they feel that the person sitting in the exit row is capable of following their instructions.
Argued in English about poor knowledge of English. LOL.
For just about any reason a crew member can make a person move and/or leave a flight and refusal to do so can result in pretty major consequences. I don’t necessarily agree with this but that’s the way it is. Air travel is not a democracy or a debating society and just like the crew and captain at sea they have the authority and can have you ejected.
Does it suck in this case? Maybe but is that seat worth being on the no fly list? No? Then get up and move.
You should indeed have competent English in order to be in such a seat. He clearly is competent enough, fucker is arguing with him in English.
First he was asked to switch seats, he refused, ITS A FUCKING SAFETY ISSUES….
Sooo, this seems racy and I don’t just say shit like that.
I don’t want any Russians helping me incase of a plane crashing, they’re notorious for fucking planes and their passengers up.
NHL has Russian players, but Russia is banned from the NHL’s 2025 Four Nations FaceOff, and weren’t allowed in the World Junior Ice Hockey series that the US won again.
That’s just racism at this point straight up no bs. Bratha you lucky he don’t smesh your bone
This guy can punch a hole in the plane, he’s exactly the guy you want helping at the emergency exit.
Khabib flies coach???