'No excuses' for striking wife, says UFC president White

LOS ANGELES – UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) president Dana White on Monday (Jan 2) addressed a video released earlier in the day showing him and his wife apparently striking each other in the face in what appeared to be an altercation in a club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

According to TMZ, which released the video, the altercation took place in a VIP room during a New Year's Eve party at El Squid Roe, shortly after midnight.

The video, which lasts about 45 seconds, shows White say something to his wife, Anne. As she turns to White, he grabs her left wrist, after which she slaps him on the face with her right hand.

White appears to immediately slap Anne once, then take another swing at her. The two then grab one another's arms while others intervene.

In speaking with TMZ, White admitted that he and his wife were the people in the video and that he did strike her.

"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, 53, told the outlet.

He added: "There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that's no excuse. I literally am making no excuses for this thing at all, it's never happened before it's the first time that it's ever happened.

"I don't know why it happened and my wife and I have apologised to each other, we've apologised to our kids."

Several times in the interview, White alluded to being most concerned about the impact of the incident on his children.

"My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years," he said.

"We've known each other since we were 12 years old. We've obviously been through some (expletive) together, and we've got three kids. 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."

White helped convince brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta to purchase the UFC for US$2 million (S$2.68 million) in 2001, at which time White was named president of the company.

The brothers sold the company in 2021 for more than US$4 billion. At the time White reportedly owned nearly 10 per cent of the company and remained as president through the sale and still holds the position today.

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