UFC President Dana White and his wife were both involved in a physical altercation on New Year’s Eve in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Both struck one another in an open atmosphere.
A video recently surfaced of White and his wife, Anne, via TMZ. White was talking to Anne, who appeared distressed. He grabbed her wrists, she slapped him in the face, and then White slapped her back. An argument between them continued while others within the V.I.P. area they were in attempted to resolve the situation.
Trent Reinsmith reached out to TBS and ESPN, the latter who has a deal with the UFC for broadcasting fights under the Disney brand. ESPN directed him back to the UFC for a comment: “ESPN does the distribution and UFC produces the content.” Endeavor (the company that bought the UFC and has a controlling interest) has not released a statement on the ordeal.
White would end up speaking to TMZ. He mentioned both he and his wife had consumed alcohol before the incident, but that was no excuse for what happened.
MORE: Combat sports world remembers UFC Hall of Famer, pioneer Stephan Bonnar
“My wife and I were out on Saturday night on New Year’s Eve, and unfortunately that’s what happened,” White said, via MMA Fighting. “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. My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. We’ve known each other since we were 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some s--- together. 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, 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. People are going to have opinions on this, and most of the people’s opinions would be right, especially in my case. You don’t put your hands on a woman ever. My wife and I 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 would later tell TMZ that he doesn’t remember a lot from the night. He went on to state that that was the first time what happened took place between him and his wife. They have since apologized to one another and their kids, per White.
MORE: 2022 MMA Awards: Best KO, upset, submission & more
The situation has brought back up on social media a quote from White in 2014 when talking to FOX Sports Live:
“There’s one thing that you never bounce back from and that’s putting your hands on a woman. Been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don’t bounce back from putting your hands on a woman.”
Anne, who has been married for over 26 years to Dana, would provide her own statement to TMZ Sports.
"Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years,” Anne stated. “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 two are still on vacation together. Police were not involved, and no files have been charged as of this writing.