Arman Tsarukyan: Dispute with ‘rude’ airline attendant led to removal from plane

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 16: Arman Tsarukyan of Georgia is seen on stage during the UFC 311 press conference at Intuit Dome on January 16, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Arman Tsarukyan was forced to exit an American Airlines flight ahead of his RAF 8 match in Philadelphia and now he’s sharing his side of the story.

On Thursday, a video showing Tsarukyan being escorted off of a plane emerged online, courtesy of vlogger Adam Zubayraev, who claimed it was because the UFC lightweight contender was on his phone prior to takeoff. American Airlines later released a statement, stating that Tsarukyan’s removal was due to him and his friends not “staying seated while the aircraft is taxiing.”

Tsarukyan and his friends then took a private jet to Philadelpha instead and Tsarukyan was in attendance at the RAF 8 pre-fight press conference to offer his version of events.

“So I had a team, we were 11 of us,” Tsarukyan said. “We’re just getting in the plane, it was, like, three empty seats, I asked the lady because my seat was next to my friend and he’s a little bit big, and I said, OK, maybe there is an empty seat. So I asked the lady, ‘Can I sit here?’ She doesn’t say yes or no. She said, ‘Where’s your seat?’ I said, ‘29A.’

“‘Go there.’”

For whatever reason, Tsarukyan did not appreciate the flight attendant’s response. He stepped away from the confrontation, but still chose a different seat to sit in from the one he was assigned. Tsarukyan claims a phone call and an upright table further escalated the situation.

“I said, ‘Why you rude?’” Tsarukyan said. “Then I sit in 30A, because it was empty, and then someone called to my friend. He picked up the phone and my other friend, he had opened his table and she came and said, ‘Close your table.’ And he said, ‘OK. OK. I’ll do that.’

“And ‘Pucho’—someone called ‘Pucho’—he took the phone and then three of us we were kicked out from the plane, the other seven they flew. Then we got the jet and they said, ‘Bro, why didn’t you tell me you were flying jet after that? We would like to get out, too.”

The crew eventually decided to return to the gate and Tsarukyan and three others were asked to exit the plane.