MMA fighter Aaron “Tex” Johnson made international headlines after he crashed out over luggage space before a Southwest flight could take off.
The former MMA fighter and three-time champ was filing onto the flight out of LaGuardia International Airport in New York. Johnson went off on a screaming and profanity-laced tirade on fellow passengers and the flight attendant regarding overhead bin space.
MMA fighter had a meltdown
Laughably, Johnson shouted claims of “assault” and “abuse” when crew members tried to deescalate the situation and restore order. He was a tornado of negative energy, therefore the head flight attendant barked “Get off my plane!” at Johnson as fellow passengers erupted in applause.
Johnson was undeterred, even squaring up on the flight attendant as if he was ready for a UFC fight and then dared a Black passenger to “Hit me!” and calling him a “loser” repeatedly.
Johnson removed from his flight
Exasperated, the flight crew called for first responders to come and snatch Johnson off the plane. Because he was not willing to go quietly, he had to be strapped down on hospital gurney and wheeled down of the jet bridge and through the airport.
Johnson said he was treated as if he was Black
As he was being paraded through the airport, Johson then yelled, “This is bulls–t! I’m getting treated like a Black person right now,” which caused an eruption of laughter from folks observing and recording the cartoon-ish scene.
Man goes viral after getting put on a stretcher at the airport and yelling
“I’m getting treated like a black person right now”😭 pic.twitter.com/VXzOMCz5p0
— kira 👾 (@kirawontmiss) July 23, 2025
Because Johnson seemed to be having a nervous breakdown, he was transported to a local hospital where officers later gave him a summons to appear in court for disorderly conduct.
Johnson remains unrepentant after his eruption
Ironically, just two weeks ago, Johnson discussed how practicing Jiu Jitsu helped keep him level and gave him meaning to the pain and suffering in his life.
Unapologetic and undeterred after humiliating himself, Johnson continued his manic tirade on social media after he was released. He took to Instagram to bark “Nobody moves nobody gets hurt” and blamed the fracas over baggage space.
Southwest Airlines denounced Johnson for his “unruly and belligerent” behaivor and has subsequently banned Johnson from flying with them again.
This far from the first time that Johnson has gone nuclear. He was reportedly booted from one training camp for unruly behavior in 2018 and had an in-match eruption that made national headlines in 2019.
Johnson’s descent into madness on the Southwest plane was captured on video and has garnered millions views. The other passengers were probably thankful that the emotional explosion didn’t wait to happen at 30,000 feet.
Fans crack up over the ridiculous scene
Folks digested Johnson’s truculent verbal firebombing on video with a mixture of awe, hilarity and disgust or a combination of the three.
“Bro turned the airport into an HBO special,” said one fan said on X, while a second added “Not wait. I know it’s not at Denny’s but it looks close enough fights will be legendary
A third user said quizzically, “Wait… he really said THAT out loud in public? This is unreal,” while a fourth respondent opined, “the fact that black people were laughing makes this okay.”
Two others were perplexed that Johnson flashed the race card while being wheeled down the airport. “Oh not the race card isn’t it 2025,” said one person, while a second contributed, “lol this is wild. bro really pulled the race card on a stretcher.”
One pointed to lack of parental guidance. “Parents gotta start giving there children more attention so they don’t end up like this,” surmised a user.