A mixed martial arts (MMA) star prompted controversy after he refused to shake the hand of a female TV presenter during live TV coverage of the 2025 Champions League final.
As Paris Saint-Germain were confirmed winners against Inter Milan, Khabib Nurmagomedov of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was seen snubbing CBS Sports presenter Kate Abdo, straight after shaking hands with her male coworkers. The decision likely stemmed from Nurmagomedov’s widely publicised religious beliefs.
Marina Akhmedova of the Presidential Council for Human Rights in Russia, called it:
a display of Islamism, when a person selectively chooses which religious norms to observe and which to ignore.
She cited the way that, when competing, Nurmagomedov’s MMA garb routinely violates Islamic dress codes for men.
The scene at the Allianz Arena in Munich prompted conservative footballer Sophie Corcoran to take to X, formerly Twitter, and argue:
Refusing to shake a woman’s hand is disrespectful and misogynistic and it is not ‘Islamophobic’ to suggest otherwise.
They are the intolerant ones.
I will not apologise for calling out intolerance.
The online Left responded to the incident by declaring that the UFC fighter is forbidden from shaking hands with females who are not close relatives because he is a devout Muslim, not a misogynist. Although this begs a question: can’t he be both?
