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A UFC fighter was kicked off his flight on Thursday over his 2-year-old son not wearing a mask. Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt went on a social media tirade against Southwest Airlines on Thursday after being forced off the flight, and much of his anger was directed toward one of the flight attendants.
Garbrandt posted, “F*** @southwestair got kicked off because my 2 year old son wouldn’t put his mask over his face. This coward flight attendant hid his b**** a** in the bathroom.”
You can watch Garbrandt’s video below.
Additionally, Garbrandt posted another video about the incident in which he admonished the pilots of the plane for not wearing masks.
He posted, “Kicking a two year old off a plane ride but your captains aren’t wearing their masks, while we all are full capacity sharing the same air! What a joke @southwestair”.
Garbrandt hasn’t fought since his knockout victory over Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 last June, a fight that snapped the fighter’s three-fight losing skid.
Garbrandt was on the way to challenging UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo for the Brazilian’s title at UFC 255, but the American was forced to withdraw from the bout after testing positive for COVID-19.
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Southwest Responds: ‘We Regret This Family Experienced Any Inconvenience’
Garbrandt has over 2.4 million followers on Instagram, so the story about him flipping out over being kicked off the plane quickly went viral.
But Garbrandt wasn’t the only side that had a say. A Southwest spokesperson told MMA Junkie: “We regret this family experienced any inconvenience during their travel. However, federal law requires Southwest to ensure every person age 2 and over to wear a mask at all times throughout a flight, including during boarding and deplaning. In this situation, the customers opted not to fly on Southwest, and they were offered a full refund of their tickets.”
On its website, Southwest states its COVID-19 mask protocol for flights and that children under 2 years old are exempt.
The protocol seems to be based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s order on January 29, 2021, that requires the wearing of masks by travelers to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Garbrandt’s son is 2 years old, so he would not be exempt from the rule.
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UFC World Reacts
Most of the UFC world seemed to stand in solidarity with the raging Garbrandt on social media. At least, that’s what it looked like among those who commented on the two Instagram posts.
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman posted, “Oh nooooo!!! I can imagine how scared he must’ve been when you turned up on him smh.”
UFC middleweight contender Marvin Vettori called the airline a bunch of “bastards”.
UFC middleweight Deron Winn commented, “It’s funny cuz he was prolly trying to punk you then you checked him and boy actually is in the toilet hiding lol”.
ESPN’s Jon Anik said, “Unreal, man. Unreal. SMFH.”
Former UFC Hall of Famer Uriah Faber posted, “Some people ‘on the plane; are smart enough and capable/allowed to make their own decisions, based on their own research, intuition, and personal experience ….others aren’t. Sounds like Gov Newsom runs southwest.”
He also commented, “Dude…I like to see any of those people mask a two yr old that doesn’t want it.”
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