Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov refused to shake Kate Scott’s hand during a Champions League TV segment on account of his faith.
The football world converged in Germany on Saturday night as the Allianz Arena hosted the 2025 Champions League final between PSG and Inter Milan.
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 livestreamer IShowSpeed and Khabib.
As the undefeated 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.
Khabib then appeared to clarify his refusal to the presenter – previously known as Kate Abdo prior to her marriage to boxing trainer Malik Scott last year – who subsequently apologised on air.
Kate Scott reached to to shake Khabib Nurmagomedov’s hand but he refused due to his faith
Scott quickly apologised after the awkward moment, while IShowSpeed pulled a face
Some fans insisted that Khabib had been showing respect to Scott by not shaking her hand
They explained that the ex-UFC star had not been trying to marginalise her
One fans described the handshake refusal as a ‘beautiful’ moment
Born in the Russian republic of Dagestan, Khabib 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 Khabib’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.’
Khabib’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.
Khabib shook hands with Thierry Henry as he greeted the CBS Sports panel
One fan was not impressed by Khabib, accusing him of ignoring Scott
Khabib watched his beloved PSG win the Champions League alongside Islam Makhachev
However, others were less impressed and suggested Khabib 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, Khabib quickly settled into speaking about his beloved PSG after their dominant victory.
It was the French side’s first European Cup triumph, and Khabib and fellow UFC star Islam Makhachev were there to witness it in person.
