Arman Tsarukyan explains plane removal. UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan who told Ilia Topuria to vacate the belt if he’s scared to fight made headlines ahead of his scheduled appearance in Philadelphia after being removed from an American Airlines flight, and now, he’s telling his side of the story.
On Thursday, a video showing Tsarukyan being escorted off of a plane emerged online, The incident occurred on April 16, 2026, as Tsarukyan and his team were traveling from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. According to airline officials, Tsarukyan and members of his group were removed after failing to comply with safety instructions, including remaining seated while the aircraft was taxiing. The situation escalated enough that the plane reportedly returned to the gate, where Tsarukyan and several others were escorted off before 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.
Speaking after the incident, Tsarukyan claimed the situation began over a simple request. He said he asked a flight attendant about switching to an empty seat to better accommodate a friend but described the attendant’s response as rude which triggered the disagreement.
“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.’”
Tsarukyan also suggested that minor issues like phone use and a tray table were used against him during the exchange, contributing to the decision to remove him from the flight. “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 ultimately chose to return to the gate, where Tsarukyan and three others were asked to leave the aircraft.
Fortunately, Tsarukyan and his team were able to arrange a private charter, keeping their plans intact ahead of his scheduled grappling match with Urijah Faber in the RAF 8 co-main event on Saturday, which airs live on Fox Nation. For Arman Tsarukyan, the focus now shifts back to competition… but the incident has already added another unpredictable chapter to his story outside the cage.
