UFC president Dana White responded to viral video of a physical altercation with his wife, Anna.
The couple was seen together in a VIP group at a Cabo San Lucas nightclub on New Year's Eve. White can be seen whispering something to his wife to which she responds by striking the UFC president in the face. Mr. White responded similarly striking his wife in the face as fellow attendees apprehended the two.
"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 in a statement to TMZ. "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— 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,” he added. “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,” he continued. “It’s the first time it’s ever happened. People are going to say what they’re going to say and it is what it is. Whatever people say is deserved. I deserve it.”
The couple were "heavily intoxicated" leading up to the altercation, according to eyewitnesses in the club, the outlet reported.
"To say this is out of character for him is an understatement — nothing like this has ever happened before," said White's wife in a statement to TMZ. "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."
In December, streaming platform Rumble announced a partnership with Power Slap, a premier slap fighting organization founded by White.
"Rumble is an incredible platform and we couldn’t be more excited to be the first sports league to join," White said of the partnership. "Tune in to the Power Slap page because you’re not going to want to miss this."
“Rumble gives us another massive outlet to educate fans around the world about this new sport, connect fans to our athletes, and distribute compelling content," said Power Slap president Frank Lamicella.
"This partnership with Power Slap is exactly the type of strategic investment that helps us grow and diversify our content library,” said Rumble Chairman, founder, and CEO Chris Pavlovski. "When Dana is excited about something like Power Slap, we listen," Pavlovski continued. "He is a proven visionary in this space, and we can’t wait to be a part of this amazing journey with Power Slap."
