UFC President Dana White was caught on camera having a physical altercation with his wife on New Year’s Eve and has spoken out about the incident.
The incident happened at a nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In an interview, White said he took responsibility for his part in the incident.
TMZ on Monday released video of White and his wife Anna apparently engaged in an argument at the Squid Roe nightclub, reportedly with family members.
According to eyewitnesses who spoke to TMZ, Anna punched her husband and White slapped her on the back before they were separated.
“I’m on vacation with my family and my wife in Cabo, Mexico and I was traveling with my family for New Year’s Eve and unfortunately that’s exactly what happened,” White told TMZ. “I’m one of those people who’s been heard saying for years, ‘There’s never an excuse for a man to touch a woman. And now I’m talking about it here on TMZ. 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 shit together and we have three kids and this is one of those awful situations.
“I’m embarrassed, but it’s also one of those situations where we worry more about our kids. We have three kids and obviously since the video came out we’ve been showing the kids the video and now we’re more focused on our family. People will have their opinion on this. Most people’s opinion will be correct – especially in my case. You never lay hands on a woman. My wife and I obviously 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 just one of those unfortunate situations.”
White said the clash with his wife was intoxicated, and he claimed “I don’t remember much” about the preparation and aftermath of the confrontation. White said he remains in Mexico with his family and has discussed the aftermath with Anna and his three children.
“There was definitely a lot of alcohol, but there’s no excuse,” White said. “I literally don’t find any excuses for this thing at all. This has never happened before. It’s the first time it’s happened and people will say what they will say. It is what it is. And whatever people say, it’s deserved. I earn it. It happened. I don’t know why it happened, and my wife and I have apologized to each other, we have apologized to our children, and it’s one of those things that everyone’s going to interfere with. I don’t care what people think about these. We worry more about our children and take care of our family.”
TMZ also received a statement from Anna, who shared her side of the incident and defended White’s stance that physical altercations between them weren’t common.
“Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years,” Anna said in the statement. “To say this is out of character for him is an understatement – nothing like this has ever happened before. Unfortunately we both drank too much on New Year’s Eve and things got out of hand on both sides. We discussed this as a family and we apologized to each other. I just hope people respect our privacy for the sake of our children.”
It is not known if Mexican authorities are involved with the police. UFC officials declined MMA Junkie’s request for comment on the situation beyond White’s interview with TMZ.
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