UFC President Dana White Admits Physical Altercation With Wife on New Year’s Eve

UFC president Dana White admitted to being involved in a physical altercation with his wife on New Year’s Eve. TMZ Sports published a video that shows White, 53, and his wife Anne in the VIP area of a nightclub in Cabo Mexico. The two are seen arguing before Anne slaps White in the face. This led to White slapping her before the two were separated. 

When speaking to TMZ on Monday, White apologized for the altercation. “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, per ESPN. “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. 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.”

Anne sent a statement to TMZ saying that it was an isolated 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.”

White and Anne got married in 1996. He has been president of UFC since 2001 after childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta and his brother Frank bought the company. Under White’s leadership, UFC became the top mixed martial arts organization in the world, and White’s current net worth is set at $500 million. In 2019, White announced that he signed a seven-year contract extension with UFC.

“We had a five-year deal with them,” White said at the time, per MMA Fighting. “Now, we have a seven-year deal. And [UFC parent company Endeavor CEO] Ari Emanuel and I just signed a new seven-year deal, too. So we’re here for seven years, ESPN is here for seven years. And the incredible things that we’re gonna work on, I just can’t even tell you how pumped I am for all of this stuff.”