UFC boss Dana White: ‘No excuses’ for striking wife

UFC president Dana White on Monday addressed a video released on Monday showing him and his wife apparently striking each other in the face in what appeared to be an altercation in a club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

According to TMZ, which released the video, the altercation took place during in a VIP room during a New Year's Eve party at El Squid Roe, shortly after midnight.

The video, which lasts about 45 seconds, shows Mr White say something to his wife, Anne White. As she turns to Mr White, he grabs her left wrist, after which she slaps him on the face with her right hand.

Mr White appears to immediately slap Ms White once, then take another swing at her. The two then grab one another’s arms while others intervene.

In speaking with TMZ, Mr White admitted that he and his wife were the people in the video and that he did strike her.

“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,” Mr White, 53, told the outlet.

He added, “There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that’s no excuse. I literally am making no excuses for this thing at all, it’s never happened before it’s the first time that it’s ever happened... I don’t know why it happened and my wife and I have apologised to each other, we’ve apologised to our kids.”

Several times in the interview, Mr White alluded to being most concerned about the impact of the incident on his children.

"My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years," he said. "We've known each other since we were 12 years old. We've obviously been through some (expletive) together, and we've got three kids. This is one of those situations that's horrible. I'm embarrassed. But it's also one of those situations that right now we're more concerned about our kids. We have three kids and obviously since the video popped up, we've shown the kids the video. We're more focused on our family right now."

Mr White helped convince brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta to purchase the UFC for $2 million in 2001, at which time he was named president of the company. The brothers sold the company in 2021 for more than $4 billion. At the time Mr White reportedly owned nearly 10 percent of the company and remained as president through the sale. He still holds the position today. -Field Level Media/Reuters