Just days after news broke about Khabib Nurmagomedov being kicked off a domestic flight in the U.S., UFC commentator Jon Anik has shared his own experience with ‘rude’ airline staff in the country. Anik spoke about how poorly he was treated when he asked a flight attendant to serve him a cup of tea.
Just asked a flight attendant for a tea. Might as well have asked her for $10K. Sorry! Every time I fly domestically, I am amazed at just how rude airline and airport personnel are in America.
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) January 16, 2025
Anik didn’t share the name of the airline so most probably, it isn’t Frontier Airlines, the airline Khabib took a flight in recently. A video has gone viral on social media in which Khabib was seen arguing over being ordered to get up from the emergency seat.
Frontier Airlines has explained the incident, stating that Khabib didn’t respond when asked multiple times if he was willing and able to assist in an emergency, a mandatory requirement for emergency row seating.
They further denied claims that his removal was linked to any kind of bigoted bias. Rather, it was purely in compliance with FAA rules.
“As a result of the customer’s initial unresponsiveness and repeated declinations of a seat change, he was asked to deplane per airline and FAA policy. The decision to deplane the customer was in no way related to his ethnicity and we have refunded him and his traveling companions for their flights.”
Khabib had earlier released a statement asserting that the airline staffer was rude to him from the get-go. He claimed that despite having explained that he understood and spoke English and agreeing to assist in case of an emergency, the decision to de-board him was made.
First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier 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…— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025
Khabib has found support from his peers in the UFC including Daniel Cormier and Michael Chandler. However, former middleweight contender, Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe the airline was at fault here.
Sonnen questions why Khabib was flying economy
The first question Sonnen asked about the entire controversy was who booked Khabib’s ticket.
“This is not Bob Smith. There is one Khabib. There is nobody within the travel department that should be entering Khabib Nurmagomedov for any flight.”
Sonnen then went ahead and explained that he had also been seated in an emergency seat before and the incident was purely about following regulations designed for safety. For Sonnen, it’s simple: rules are rules, and they apply to everyone—even a UFC legend like Khabib.
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Sonnen, however, was perplexed with why nobody else from Khabib’s team didn’t stand up for him.
“When Khabib got up and walked out, did his team not see that he was being escorted off? Because generally, that would be where they stand, and all of a sudden you’re missing four or five guys.”
At this point, it doesn’t seem like Khabib is pursuing this matter further. However, that doesn’t mean, it’s dying down anytime soon.
