A popular martial arts influencer has sensationally claimed that UFC icon Khabib Nurmagomedov will refuse to train with him again because he thinks he is gay. Martial artist Flexcidine recently travelled to Dagestan to meet Nurmagomedov and fellow UFC champion Islam Makhachev.

Flexcidine, whose real name is Alejandro Cid, met with both fighters and posed for pictures, which can be seen on his Instagram account. He explained that the meeting went well until there was a misunderstanding over his sexuality. Nurmagomedov is said to have seen a prank video in which the social media star pretended to kiss his male training partner. Flexcidine revealed that the 36-year-old struggled to look him in the eye and joked that they would never be able to meet again.

“If I return to Dagestan, I will most likely be able to train with Islam again,” Flexcidine told fellow YouTuber Rene ZZ. “[But] it’s completely impossible for me to see Khabib again until the day I die. For the simple fact that he thinks I’m gay.

“Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks I'm homosexual. That I like men. Khabib, who is super religious. He has [a] hard time keeping eye contact with me. I swear bro, he couldn’t look at me because he thought I was f****** gay. It's over. That's it, that's it.”

Nurmagomedov made headlines last week after he refused to shake female CBS presenter Kate Scott’s live on television. The Paris Saint-Germain supporter joined pundits Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry and Micah Richards for a discussion after the Champions League final.

He embraced each of the former footballers but snubbed Scott as she extended her hand. Nurmagomedov, who seemed to clarify his decision to Scott, is a devout Sunni Muslim.

In Islam, it is forbidden to touch a member of the opposite sex to whom they are not related. The situation also arose when Nurmagomedov was team-mates with fellow UFC fighter Cynthia Calvillo.

In 2020, Calvillo revealed that they were unable to train with each other directly due to Nurmagomedov’s faith. “It's a little bit weird because of their religion... they won't train with women,” she 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.”