UFC President Dana White is in hot water after he and his wife were caught on film getting physical at a New Year’s Eve party.
White and his wife of 26 years, Anne, were at a Cabo San Lucas, MX nightclub on Saturday night for a New Year’s Eve celebration. A large crowd descended on the club as 2022 turned to 2023.
Things were amicable at the club before things took a nasty turn between White and his wife. After a brief club-side conversation, White’s wife hit him in the face, and White retaliated with a smack of his own.
Dana White Slaps Wife During Nightclub Altercation
You can watch the eyewitness recording of the incident involving White and his wife below.
It’s uncertain what White and his wife said that caused such strong reactions, but eyewitnesses told TMZ that they both were heavily intoxicated during the incident. They’ve since apologized to each other since the nightclub fight.
White reflected on the incident in a recent interview with TMZ.
“You’ve 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,” White said.
“My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years,” White said. “We’ve known each other since we were 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some shit 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 that is — 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, and we’re more focused on our family right now.
“People are gonna have opinions on this, and most of the people’s opinions will be right, and 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. We’ve known each other since we were very little, and this is just one of those unfortunate situations.”
White was then asked if he remembers how things unfolded at the club with his wife.
“[LAUGHS] No, I don’t remember a lot. So yeah, no,” White answered. “Obviously, this thing, it’s one of those situations: it’s embarrassing for both of us, but more importantly, what we’re more concerned about are our kids.”
White also claimed that things quickly calmed down after the altercation and what was seen in the video was the incident in its entirety. He also said this is the first time he and his wife have gotten physical with each other.
White’s wife also issued the following statement to TMZ:
“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.”
The incident took place after another eventful year for the UFC and White. It was capped off by White being named to the Variety500 business list alongside UFC owner Ari Emanuel.
It’s uncertain if there will be legal repercussions as a result of the incident. The UFC, as a promotion, has yet to issue a public statement on White and the altercation.
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