Dana White has apologized after he was filmed slapping his wife Anne in the face during a row in a club in Mexico on New Year’s Eve.
The 53-year-old White, who has an estimated worth of $500million after building the UFC up into a global money-spinning franchise, has been married to his wife for 26 years and they have three children together.
They were celebrating New Year’s Eve at El Squid Roe in Cabo San Lucas. Video shows White appearing to say something to Anne, who reacts by slapping him. He then slaps her back before the pair are split up.
Fronting up about the incident to TMZ, the UFC chief said: ‘My wife and I were out Saturday night on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately that is what happened.
‘I am one of the guys who says there is never, ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman and now here I am on TMZ talking about it.
‘This is one of those situations that is horrible. I am embarrassed. We have three kids and since the video popped up, we have shown the kids and we are more focused on our family right now.
‘People are going to have their opinions on this and people’s opinions would be right, especially in my case. You don’t put your hands on a woman, ever.’
His wife Anne is quoted by TMZ as saying: ‘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.’
Back in 2014, White said that there is no coming back for UFC fighters who were violent to women.
‘There’s one thing that you never bounce back from and that’s putting your hands on a woman,’ he said. ‘Been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don’t bounce back from putting your hands on a woman.’
Where White goes from here will be the focus of intense scrutiny in the coming days.
The next UFC card is slated for January 14 in Las Vegas, where he would normally be expected to attend in person.
‘My legacy and all this other stuff with work doesn’t mean anything to me,’ White added. ‘It’s all about your family. It’s about your wife and kids.’