UFC boss Dana White has issued a public apology after shocking video emerged of him slapping his wife at a New Year’s Eve party in a Mexican nightspot.
The video – taken from below the couple who were on a VIP balcony at a venue in Cabo – quickly emerged on celebrity gossip site TMZ and went viral, with White conceding both he and wife Anne had been drinking heavily that night.
The vision shows Anne clearly upset before White touches her hand, and she reacts by slapping her husband on the face.
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White then immediately reacts and slaps her back – twice – across the face as she attempts to keep her arms up and block her husband.
As Anne grabs onto White’s right hand, he pushes her away from him as a bystander intervenes.
The man behind the biggest mixed martial arts competition in the world then remains on the balcony chatting after his wife’s exit.
In his apology, White said there was “no excuse” for his actions and described the slap on his childhood sweetheart, who he married in 1996, as “horrible”.
But he told TMZ he and wife Anne are now “cool” and were working through the moment with their three children.
“You’ve heard me say over the years, 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,” White said.
“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**t 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 and we’re more focused on our family right now.
“People are going to have opinions on this … and most of those opinions would be right in my case. You don’t put your hands on a woman ever.
“This is one of those unfortunate situations.
“There was definitely a lot of alcohol involved but that’s no excuse. I’m literally making no excuses for this thing at all.
“It’s never happened before – it’s the first time it’s ever happened. People are going to say what they’re going to say and it is what is. Whatever people do say is deserved. I deserve it.”
“It happened. I don’t know why it happened. My wife and I have apologised to each other. We’ve apologised to our kids.
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“That was the beginning of it and the end of it. We’re still on vacation.
“We’re obviously best friends, she’s my wife and we had too much to drink. Whatever happened that night happened.
“It’s embarrassing for both of us.
“My legacy and all this other stuff with work doesn’t mean anything to me – it’s all about your family. It’s about your wife and kids. But me and my wife are cool. We’re good.”
When asked on TMZ if he remembered his actions that night he laughed and replied: “No, I don’t remember a lot.”
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Anne issued a similar statement to the media, stating both she and White were “drinking too much” and labelled the slap “out of character” for the UFC president.
“Things got out of control, on both sides,” she said.
“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 whole ordeal was over in a matter of seconds.
White and his family remain on holiday in Mexico, before they are due back home in Las Vegas early in the new year.
