Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov refused to shake Kate Scott's hand during a Champions League TV segment due to 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 was joined at the pitch side by popular streamer IShowSpeed and the UFC icon.
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.
Nurmagomedov then appeared to clarify his refusal to the presenter, previously known as Kate Abdo before her marriage to boxing trainer Malik Scott last year, 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 whom they are not related to.
The incident comes after a fellow UFC fighter and female teammate 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 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.
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 whom they are not related to.
The incident comes after a fellow UFC fighter and female teammate 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 reing 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.
