UFC president Dana White has publicly apologized after a video of a physical incident between himself and his wife on New Year’s Eve was made public.
The video of the incident, published by TMZ, shows White and his wife Anne captured on camera in a verbal exchange that escalated and saw Anne slap Dana in the face. White then slapped her back before others at the party stepped in to separate the pair.
On Monday night, White went on TMZ and apologized for the incident, saying he had “no excuses” for his actions.
“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,” he 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. 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.
“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 say is deserved. I deserve it.”
White’s wife Anne also issued a statement to TMZ, saying, “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. 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.”