UFC president Dana White was caught striking his wife in a video released by TMZ on Monday and took responsibility for the incident in an interview with the outlet.
The video shows White and his wife, Anne, in an argument at a nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on New Year’s Eve. After White appears to say something to Anne, she hits him before White strikes her back.
"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 in his interview.
"My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. We’ve known each other since we were almost 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some s--- together and 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 where 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."
White admitted "there was definitely a lot of alcohol involved," later claiming he didn't remember much from the evening, but said "that's no excuse."
“I’m literally making no excuses for this thing at all," he said. "It’s never happened before. It’s the first time that it’s ever happened, and people are going to say what they’re going to say. It is what it is. And whatever people do say, it’s deserved. I deserve it. It happened."
According to TMZ, eyewitnesses said the couple seemed intoxicated, with the incident escalating quickly and abruptly, and lasting less than a minute.
Anne said it was an unprecedented conflict for the couple in a statement to TMZ.
"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," the statement read.
White has been the UFC's president since 2001 and signed a seven-year contract to remain in his role in 2019. He lives with his family in Las Vegas.
The UFC says it is not commenting on that matter at this time.
