UFC boss Dana White says the criticism he has received for slapping his wife is “100% warranted” but that he would not be punishing himself.
A video had surfaced of White slapping his wife, Anne White, at a nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on New Year’s Eve.
In the video, Anne is seen slapping him first, with him retaliating.
“There are no excuses for it,” he said. “It’s something I’m going to have to deal with and live with for the rest of my life.
“The focus is on [the fighters],” White said. “These guys have trained hard and gotten ready for this fight. What happened on New Year’s Eve is mine. My mistake. Not theirs.
“One thing I do want to clarify in this thing that I didn’t talk about on TMZ, because I didn’t expect it or I didn’t see it coming, is the people that are defending me.
“There’s no defence for this, and people should not be defending me over this thing, no matter what. All the criticism I have received this week is 100 percent warranted and will receive in the future.”
White added that any attempt to punish himself would hurt the fighters and the organization instead.
“What should the repercussions be?” he asked. “I take 30 days off? How does that hurt me? I told you guys as we were going through [the COVID-19 pandemic], COVID could last 10 years, and I could sit it out.
“It’s much like COVID, actually. Me leaving hurts the company, hurts my employees, hurts the fighters. It doesn’t hurt me.
“I could’ve left in 2016 [when the company was acquired by Endeavor]. Do I need to reflect? I’ve been against this. I’ve owned this. I’m telling you that I’m wrong.
“Here’s my punishment: I have to walk around for however long I live — and this is how I’m labeled now.
“My other punishment is that I’m sure a lot of people — whether it be media, fighters, friends, acquaintances — who had respect for me might not have respect for me now.
“There’s a lot of things I have to deal with the rest of my life that’s way more of a punishment than, what, I take a 30-day or 60-day absence?”
In her own statement, Anne, who has been married to Dana for 27 years, says the incident was isolated.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” she 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.”
