Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White has issued a statement after a video came out of him getting physical with his wife Anne White during a New Yearās Eve celebration.
The video shows White being slapped by his wife. He then responded by slapping her back. The full conflict was caught on camera and was quickly broken up afterward. The UFC hasnāt issued a statement yet, nor has any punishment come down over the incident. The promotion currently has a television and streaming deal with ESPN, where it is one of ESPN+ās most popular content, and select cards also air on ABC.
āWell, Iām in Cabo, Mexico, for the holidays with my family. My wife and I were out Saturday night for New Yearās Eve, and unfortunately, thatās what happened. Iām one of those guys, youāve heard me say for years, āThereās never ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman,ā and now here I am on TMZ talking about it,ā White admitted to TMZ Sports.
āMy wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. Weāve known each other since we were 12 years old. Weāve obviously been through some shit together, and weāve got three kids. This is one of those situations that are horrible. Iām embarrassed. But itās also one of those situations where right now weāre more concerned with our kids. We have three kids and obviously since the video popped up, weāve shown the kids the video. Weāre more focused on our family right now.ā
White knows heāll face backlash for his actions and itās all deserved.
āPeople are going to have opinions on this, and most of the peopleās opinions are gonna be right, especially in my case, you donāt put your hands on a woman ever. My wife and I obviously love each other and have been together for a very long time. Weāve known each other since we were very little and this is just one of those unfortunate situations.ā
White said that āa lot of alcoholā was involved in the situation but that it was no excuse.
āIām literally making no excuses for this at all. Itās never happened before. Itās the first time it ever happened. People are gonna say what theyāre gonna say. It just is what it is and whatever people do say itās deserved. I deserve it. It happened. I donāt know why it happened and my wife and I have apologized to each other, weāve apologized to our kids.ā