Frontier Airlines has now addressed the viral video showing retired UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov being removed from a flight over his seat in an exit row during a recent trip from Las Vegas to San Francisco.

The incident captured by another passenger, and released on social media, showed a flight attendant asking Nurmagomedov to change seats because the staff on the flight were “not comfortable” with him sitting in an exit row. The altercation ended with Nurmagomedov deboarding the flight after the flight attendant told him “you can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.”

On Monday, Frontier Airlines issued a statement to MMA Fighting addressing the altercation while denying that Nurmagomedov was singled out due to his ethnicity. Read the full statement below:

“On Jan. 11, 2025, as flight 4401 from Las Vegas to San Francisco was preparing for departure, a flight attendant initiated the customary briefing for exit row passengers. Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated in an exit row, was asked multiple times if he was willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency. According to the flight attendant, Mr. Nurmagomedov did not respond, despite repeated attempts, which placed him in non-compliance with FAA requirements. The flight attendant informed Mr. Nurmagomedov that he could be moved to a different upgraded seat or exit the plane.

“Videos circulating on social media platforms do not capture this interaction, and instead show a subsequent interaction after a gate agent entered the plane and reiterated the option to be reseated. 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.”

After video of the incident went public, Nurmagomedov issued a statement of his own after he was removed from the flight and claimed that the flight attendant speaking to him was “very rude” from the start.

“I did my best to stay calm and respectful as you can see on the video,” Nurmagomedov said. “But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.”

While Frontier Airlines denies that Nurmagomedov’s ethnicity played any role in his removal from the flight, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded an investigation into the situation.

“We call on Frontier and the U.S. Department of Transportation to swiftly and transparently investigate this incident to determine exactly what happened on this flight and why athlete and Muslim advocate Khabib Nurmagomedov was treated this way and whether religious or racial profiling played a role in his treatment,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

“Given how often incidents of racial and religious profiling occur on airlines, especially against travelers who are noticeably Muslim, [Frontier Airlines] should also publicly release the results of its investigation and take appropriate action to address any misconduct or mistakes by its staff.”

Based on the statement from Frontier Airlines, it appears there’s no plans for an investigation with Nurmagomedov being refunded for his flight after he was removed from the plane.