Dana White and his wife got into a physical altercation while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico during New Year’s Eve with the whole incident caught on camera.
In a video released by TMZ on Monday, White can be seen talking to his wife Anne, who has her hands over her face before he grabs her wrist and she responds by slapping him in the face. White then reacts by slapping his wife in the face as other people in the group get between them while the argument continues.
White addressed his actions in a separate interview with TMZ.
“My wife and I were out on Saturday night on New Year’s Eve, and unfortunately that’s what happened,” White said. “I’m one of the guys, you’ve heard me say for years, there’s never, ever an excuse for 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 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some s*** together, 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 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. People are going to have opinions on this, and most of the people’s opinions would be right, especially in my case. You don’t put your hands on a woman ever. My wife and I 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.”
Eyewitnesses at the same nightclub that night told TMZ that both White and his wife appeared to be heavily intoxicated prior to the physical altercation that unfolded.
White said that the entire incident lasted less than a minute, and he and his wife reconciled afterward and. remained on vacation together in Mexico.
“There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that’s no excuse,” White said. “I literally am making no excuses for this 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 is deserved. I deserve it. It happened. I don’t know why it happened.
“My wife and I have apologized to each other. We’ve apologized to our kids, and this is one of those things where everybody is going to chime in. I could care less what anybody else thinks about this. Right now what we’re more concerned about are our kids and taking care of our family. That was the beginning of it and the end of it. We’re still on vacation. We’re obviously best friends, she’s my wife and we had too much to drink, and whatever happened that night happened. That was it and it was done.”
A UFC rep declined additional comment on the incident and referred MMA Fighting to the TMZ story. A message to UFC parent company Endeavor wasn’t immediately returned.
In a separate statement issued to TMZ, Anne White backed up her husband’s statement, claiming he had never physically assaulted her prior to the incident that happened in Mexico.
“Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years,” Anne said. “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.”
Based on the information available, police did not get involved, and there were no charge filed against anybody in the incident. White and his wife were sitting in a VIP section of the club, and it doesn’t appear that security had to intervene after friends of the couple got between them after the altercation first occurred.
White said thanks to the amount of alcohol he imbibed that he doesn’t actually remember much about the night in question, and right now all he’s concerned about is dealing with the situation privately with his family.
“Obviously, it’s one of those situations, it’s embarrassing for both of us but what we’re more concerned about is our kids,” White said. “Nobody knows you better than your kids know you. They grow up in your house, they see everything, they hear everything, they know everything.
“Everybody always asks me questions about do I care about this, do I care about that? My legacy and all this other stuff with work doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s all about your family. It’s about your wife and kids. This situation, too, everybody’s going to have an opinion. We’re just worried about our family and focused on our kids right now. But me and my wife are cool, we’re good.”
As of now, Endeavor — the company that owns a controlling interest in the UFC — has not issued any kind of statement regarding White’s actions or any potential punishment he may face as a result.