UFC President Dana White offered some shockingly blunt thoughts on the recent altercation with his wife that was captured in a viral video.
White and his wife Anne argued on New Year’s Eve a nightclub in Cabo, Mexico, with a TMZ video showing Anne slapping her husband, only for Dana to retaliate by hitting back, then shoving his wife to the ground. The Whites later blamed the incident on “drinking too much”
Many critics have blasted what they see as limited coverage of the incident, especially by ESPN, which has a lucrative relationship with the UFC.
Speaking about the event Wednesday at a UFC media conference, White showed great remorse. He also called out people who have been defending him.
“There is never a reason or excuse what happened on New Year’s Eve to happen,” White said (via Damon Martin of MMA Fighting). “I guarantee you it will never happen again,” White said. “There aren’t two sides to this story. Only my side. You don’t bounce back from this. You don’t ever bounce back from this.
“One thing that I do want to clarify … because I didn’t expect it and I didn’t see it coming, are the people who are defending me,” White added. “There’s never an excuse … there’s no defense for this, and people should not be defending me over this.”
One of those defending White is his wife, who told TMZ when it published the video that it was “out of character” for the two of them.
“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 White 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.”
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.