Dana White and his wife were involved in a physical altercation with one another at a nightclub in Mexico over the weekend, and the UFC boss says any criticism he receives over the incident is well deserved.
White and his family were vacationing in Cabo San Lucas when he and his wife Anne went to a nightclub to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The couple was in a VIP area when Dana appeared to whisper something to Anne, and Anne responded by slapping him across the face. Dana then returned the slap to the face and the two tussled for several seconds before being separated.
The exchange was captured on video by a fellow nightclub patron. Eye witnesses told TMZ that Dana and Anne, who have been married for 26 years, seemed very intoxicated.
White spoke with TMZ about the incident and said he has no excuse for his actions.
“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 said. “My wife and I have been married 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. 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.”
White also confirmed that he and his wife had been drinking heavily.
“There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that’s no excuse,” he said. “I literally am making no excuses for this at all.”
Anne also issued a statement to TMZ. She said the altercation was “out of character” and that she and Dana have apologized to one another.
“Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years. To say this is out of character for him is an understatement — nothing like this has ever happened before,” Anne said. “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.”
Dana and Anne met in the eighth grade and have been married since 1996. They have two sons and a daughter together.
