Dana White (AP Photo/John Locher, file)
UFC President Dana White admitted Monday that he hit his wife on New Year’s Eve.
White admitted the incident while speaking to TMZ after a video surfaced of White slapping a woman in the face. In video obtained by TMZ, White can be seen at a nightclub, standing on a balcony with a woman. The woman is seen with her head in her hands before turning to punch White in the face. White then punches the woman in the face before the situation seems to calm down. The footage breaks off a few moments later.
White spoke to TMZ on Monday and confirmed that he was the man in the video and the woman was his wife. The incident happened on December 31 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to White.
“I’m on vacation with my family in Cabo, Mexico and my wife and I were out with family on New Year’s Eve and sadly this happened. I’m one of those guys you’ve heard me say for years. There is never an excuse for a man to touch a woman. And now I’m here on TMZ talking about it.”
White acknowledged alcohol was involved, telling TMZ, “I don’t remember much.”
“There was definitely a lot of alcohol, but there’s no excuse for that,” White continued. “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 that happened. My wife and I apologized to each other. We apologized to our children.”
TMZ wrote that they also spoke to White’s wife, Anne White, who issued a statement.
“Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years,” Anne said, per 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 control 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.”
White has overseen the rise of MMA as a mainstream sport and has served as President of the UFC since 2001.