UFC President Dana White publicly apologized Monday for a physical altercation between himself and his wife that was caught on video during their New Year’s Eve celebration in Cabo, Mexico.
Video released by TMZ shows White, 53, and his wife Anne in a VIP area of a nightclub. Dana White can be seen in the video saying something to Anne White, after which she slaps him in the face. Dana White then slaps her on the back before the two are quickly separated.
Speaking to TMZ on Monday, Dana White apologized and said there were “no excuses” for what happened.
“You’ve heard me say over the years, ‘There’s never an excuse for a man to lay his hands on a woman,’ and now I’m here on TMZ talking about it,” White said. “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 have three children.
“It’s one of those situations that’s awful, I’m embarrassed – but it’s also one of those situations where we’re more worried about our kids right now. We have three kids and obviously since the video surfaced, we’ve been showing the kids the video and now we’re more focused on our family.
“I’m literally not apologizing at all for this thing. It’s never happened before. It’s the first time it’s happened. People will say what they will say and it is what is. Whatever people say is deserved. I earn it.”
In a separate statement to TMZ, Anne White also said it was an isolated case.
“Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years,” she told TMZ. “To say this is out of character for him is an understatement. Nothing like this has ever happened. Unfortunately we both drank too much on New Year’s Eve and things got out of hand on both sides. We’ve talked about it as a family and we’ve apologized to each other. I just hope people will respect our privacy for the sake of our children.”
White lives with his family in Las Vegas, where he has been President of the UFC since 2001.