UFC president Dana White apologizes for slapping his wife on New Year's Eve

 

Dana White, the head of the UFC, admitted on Monday that he slapped his wife on New Year's Eve.

After a video of White slapping a woman in the face surfaced, White acknowledged the incident in an interview with TMZ. White can be seen standing next to a woman on a balcony in the video that TMZ got. Before turning to smack White in the face, the woman is seen with her head in her hands. Before the situation appears to have resolved, White then hits the woman in the face. A short while later, the video stops.

SHOCKING FOOTAGE!!! UFC President and Power Slap Fighting League owner Dana White slapping his wife up in a night club. pic.twitter.com/PBXagE3Fi4

— The World Famous MVO (Matt) (@izdatyofaceee) January 3, 2023

On Monday, White spoke with TMZ and confirmed that the woman in the video is White's wife. The occurrence occurred on Dec. 31 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, as per White.

"I’m in Cabo, Mexico for the holidays with my family, and my wife and I were out with family on New Year’s Eve, and unfortunately that’s what happened. I’m one of the guys, 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."

"I don’t remember a lot," White told TMZ, confirming that alcohol was a factor.

“There was definitely a lot of alcohol, but there’s no excuse,” White continued. “I’m literally making no excuses for this thing 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, it’s 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.”

According to TMZ, they also spoke with Anne White, White's wife, 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 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."