Former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov once flew on a budget airline in the US just to be able to visit his favourite Pakistani restaurant in San Fransisco before it closed for the night. That flight went viral after cabin crew asked him to move from his exit row seat and eventually deplaned him for refusing to comply.
He revealed this during a podcast appearance with host Adam Zubayraev last week. The UFC star said he’s been visiting Chutney in San Francisco since 2012 and that he eats there whenever he’s in town. He described it as a Pakistani restaurant, but Chutney’s website says it is Indian-Pakistani.
Nurmagomedov, now retired after a storied career with an undefeated 29-win streak, went viral in January after passengers onboard a Frontier Airlines flight posted videos of him being asked to change his seat. Alleging that his lack of English proficiency made him unable to operate the emergency exit door, crew members asked him repeatedly to move and later had security remove him from the aircraft.
The MMA star could be heard telling a flight attendant, “I know the language, I know how to help” in a clip posted to Instagram. The incident sparked widespread condemnation and was seen as many to be xenophobic, Nurmagomedov himself just called the crewmembers rude and asked them to be nice to passengers.
In the podcast, he revealed the reason he was on that flight to begin with was to get to San Francisco in time to be able to eat at Chutney before its 10pm closing. He talked about how a friend who was accompanying him was initially unwilling to fly economy, but agreed after some insistence. The exit row seats, Nurmogamedov said, were specifically chosen because he needed the extra legroom.
Hailing from Russia’s Muslim-majority Dagestan region, he said he enjoys the dishes from his native cuisine most, but that when it comes to foreign food, he can’t get enough of Pakistani dishes.
Nurmagamedov, who has excellent taste in food, we might add, considers himself a foodie, having started a chain of fast food restaurants in Kazakhstan called M Eat specialising in beef and horse meat sandwiches.
What do you think is his favourite Pakistani dish is? We think he’s a tikka guy.