Getty Dana White
Dana White admitted to TMZ that he and his wife, Anne White, got into a physical altercation while intoxicated at a New Year’s Eve party which resulted in the UFC president slapping his partner.
Video footage of the incident was shared online which showed Dana and Anne both slapping each other at a nightclub in Mexico after an apparent argument. The UFC president owned up to his actions while speaking with the outlet, and White said that he and his wife — who he’s been married to for nearly three decades — are focused on their kids amid of the controversy.
“I’m in Cabo, Mexico for the holidays with my family,” White said to the outlet. “My wife and I were out on Saturday night on New Year’s eve and unfortunately, that’s what happened. I’m one of the guys. You’ve heard me say for years, ‘There’s never ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman,’ and now here I am on TMZ talking about it.
“My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. We’ve known each other since we were 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some s*** together. We’ve got three kids and this is one of those situations; horrible and I’m embarrassed. Right now, we are more concerned about our kids. Since the video popped up, we’ve shown the kids the video.
“We are more focused on our family. People are going to have opinions on this and most people’s opinions would be right especially in my case. You don’t put your hands on a woman ever. My wife and I love each other, we’ve been together for a very long time.
“We’ve known each other since we were very little and this is one of those unfortunate situations.”
White, who said he was “embarrassed” about the “horrible” situation, told TMZ that he was “making no excuses for this thing at all. It’s never happened before. It’s the first time that it’s ever happened.”
Anne also shared a statement with the outlet, calling it an “isolated” incident.
UFC World Reacts to the UFC President’s New Year’s Eve Controversy
White is not only the president of the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion, but he is also one of the biggest names in the sport. So naturally, many in the UFC world took to Twitter to share this take on the incident.
MMA insider John Nash commented on White leading the charge as head of Power Slap League — a slap fighting promotion — and the potential repercussions. “My only slap fighting comments — I have no clue what people will accept anymore but one would think that Dana White could not be used as the head of slap league after a domestic violence incident with his wife,” Nash tweeted. “And I’m not sure a slap league without his involvement is viable.”
Former UFC heavyweight-turned-podcaster Brendan Schaub tweeted: “Oh damn. I thought it was the new embedded for the Slap league.” “All jokes aside,” he continued. “Handled it the right way.”
MMA author Jonathan Snowden wrote: “Dana White being the type of guy to hit a woman is the least surprising thing ever.”
“By tomorrow, the ‘media’ will be the real problem, not Dana White beating his wife,” Snowden continued. “Sellouts will be competing to see who can make smacking her multiple times sound as harmless as possible.”
Longtime MMA writer Ben Fowlkes tweeted: “Hell of a time to have your name all over a new slap fighting league.”
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck wrote: “This is freaking awful. I’m very curious how Endeavor, the UFC, and ESPN will respond.”