UFC chief Dana White apologises for slapping his wife at a bar at New Year's Eve party in Mexico
3 January 2023, 09:00
UFC President Dana White has publicly apologised after video footage emerged of him hitting his wife Anne at a New Year's Eve party in Mexico.
In footage attended by TMZ, the married couple could be seen arguing before the UFC chief grabbed his wife's arm. Anne responded by slapping Dana across the face, who then slapped her twice across the face. The couple could then be seen scuffling briefly before being pulled apart by fellow clubbers.
The incident happened as Dana and Anne welcomed in 2023 with friends in a VIP area above the dance floor at El Squid Roe nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Clubbers have since told TMZ Sports that both Dana and Anne seemed 'heavily intoxicated' prior to the incident, and the conflict was apparently over in 'less than a minute'.
The couple have since issued public apologies, with UFC head telling TMZ: "I’m one of the guys, you 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 almost 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some sh*t together and 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 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 and we’re more focused on our family right now.
"People are going to have their opinions on this. 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. We’ve been together for a very long time.
"There was definitely a lot of alcohol, but there’s no excuse. I’m literally making no excuses for this thing at all. It’s never happened before. It’s the first time that it’s ever happened, and people are going to say what they’re going to say. It is what it is. And whatever people do say, it’s deserved. I deserve it. It happened."
Speaking in 2014, Dana said there is 'no bouncing back' from hitting a woman. He said: "There’s one thing that you never bounce back from and that’s putting your hands on a woman."Been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don’t bounce back from putting your hands on a woman."
Anne, who has been married to Dana for 26 years, added in a separate statement: "Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years. To say this is out of character for him is an understatement -- nothing like this has ever happened before.
"Unfortunately, we were both drinking too much on New Year’s Eve and things got out of control, on both sides. We’ve talked this through as a family and apologized to each other. I just hope people will respect our privacy for the sake of our kids."
