Dana White and his wife, Anne, had a brief physical fight at a New Year’s Eve party in Mexico.
The longtime UFC boss and his wife were partying in the VIP section of El Squid Roe in Cabo San Lucas. Video of the incident published by TMZ showed White leaning down to say something to his wife. She responded by slapping him in the face, and he retaliated, slapping her twice. The two were quickly separated.
“My wife and I were out for New Year’s Eve, and, unfortunately, that’s what happened,” White said in an interview with TMZ. “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.”
White said his biggest concern in the situation is the couple’s three children.
“My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years,” White said. “We’ve known each other since we were 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some s–t together. We’ve got three kids, and this is one of those situations that’s horrible. I’m embarrassed, but it’s also one of those situations where right now we’re more concerned about our kids. We’ve shown the kids the video, and we’re more focused on our family right now.
“People are going to have opinions on this, and most of the people’s opinions will be right — especially in my case. You don’t put your hands on a woman, ever. My wife and I obviously love each other … This is just one of those unfortunate situations.”
White confirmed that they had been drinking.
“There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that’s no excuse,” he said. “I literally am making no excuses for this thing at all. It’s never happened before. It’s the first time it’s ever happened. People are gonna say what they’re gonna say. It is what it is, and whatever people do say, it’s deserved. I deserve it.”
Anne White told TMZ that “to say this is out of character for him is an understatement — nothing like this has ever happened before.” (NYPost)