UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov who refused to shake female commentator's hand on live TV is accused of blacklisting fighter because he thinks he's gay
Popular influencer and martial artist Flexcidine recently travelled to Dagestan to meet Nurmagomedov and UFC champion Islam Makhachev.
According to Flexcidine, things went smoothly until there was a misunderstanding about the Spaniard's sexuality.
'If I return to Dagestan, I will most likely be able to train with Islam again,' Flexcidine told Youtuber Rene ZZ.
'It's completely impossible for me to see Khabib again until the day I die.
'For the simple fact that he thinks I'm gay.
'Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks I'm homosexual. That I like men.'
The YouTuber explained that the undefeated UFC legend had seen a recent prank video he'd made where he pretended to kiss his male training partner.
'Khabib, who is super religious. He has hard time keeping eye contact with me,' said Flexcidine.
'I swear bro, he couldn't look at me because he thought I was f***ing gay.
'It's over. That's it, that's it.'
The former UFC champion made headlines earlier this week after he refused to shake TV host Kate Scott's hand during a Champions League final TV segment on account of his faith.
CBS Sports covered the action with their regular punditry trio of Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards and presenter Scott.
After Les Parisiens' crushing 5-0 victory, the group were joined at pitch side by popular streamer IShowSpeed and the UFC icon.
As the former fighter made his way over to his group he embraced each member individually before declining a handshake from Scott as her hand remained awkwardly outstretched.
Nurmagomedov then appeared to clarify his refusal to the presenter who subsequently apologised on air.
Born in the Russian republic of Dagestan, the fighter is a devout Sunni Muslim and has been described as the faith's second most famous athlete in the world, after Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah.
In Islam it is forbidden for a believer to touch a member of the opposite sex that they are not related to.
The incident comes after a fellow UFC fighter and female team-mate of Nurmagomedov's revealed in 2020 that he would not train directly with her.
'It's a little bit weird because of their religion... they won't train with women,' Cynthia Calvillo told theScore.
'(Khabib) is still showing technique and stuff like that. So I still get to watch it. But it doesn't bother me … because they're not really being directly rude to me.'
Nurmagomedov's handshake refusal led to a mixed reaction on social media, with some fans insisting that he had not meant to offend Scott.
'Khabib respectfully declining Kate Abdo's handshake #respect,' wrote one X user.
'Beautiful! Very respectful from Khabib. I love to see this,' added another fan.
'I hope that she understood that it's a mark of respect in our religion and not a marginalization,' one fan stated.
However, others were less impressed and suggested Nurmagomedov had not shown the same respect to Scott as he did to her male colleagues.
'That didn't seem respectful. Forget about physical handshake, he even ignored her and didn't even greet and acknowledge her until she put her hands out,' one fan wrote.
Despite the initial awkwardness over the handshake, Nurmagomedov quickly settled into speaking about his beloved PSG after their dominant victory.
It was the French side's first European Cup triumph, and Nurmagomedov and fellow UFC star Islam Makhachev were there to witness it in person.
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