Dana White Won’t Be Reprimanded by UFC Owners After Physical Altercation With Wife

UFC president Dana White took some heat after he was seen getting into a physical altercation with his wife on New Year’s Eve. And while White admits what he did was wrong, it looks like he won’t be punished for his actions. White spoke to reporters before UFC Fight Night 217 and explained why he won’t be reprimanded for the altercation. 

“It was obviously a horrible personal experience,” White said last week, per the New York Post. “There’s no excuses for it. It’s something that I’m gonna have to deal with and live with for the rest of my life. One thing I do want to clarify … is the people that are defending me. There’s never an excuse. I’m sure you guys have read some of the same stuff that I’ve seen. There’s no defense for this. People should not be defending me, no matter what. All the criticism that I’ve received this week, and will receive in the future, is 100% warranted.”

White continued: “What should the repercussions be? You tell me. I take 30 days off?” White asked. “How does that hurt me? Me leaving hurts the company. Hurts my employees. Hurts the fighters. Doesn’t hurt me. I could have left in 2016. Do I need to reflect? No, I do.” White added he had “plenty of discussions” with Endeavor Ari Emanuel and ESPN officials and “nobody is happy about this.” 

White’s wife, Anne, released a statement to TMZ, saying it was a one-time incident. “Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years,” she said. “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.” As White deals with the aftermath of the slap, he is staying busy with everything going on in UFC and his new show on TBS called Power Slap. The series made its debut on Wednesday and had an average viewership of 295,000.