UFC's Dana White admits publicly hitting wife on NYE

The best way to avoid apologizing for hitting a woman is to never do it in the first place. Guess that never went through UFC President Dana White’s brain on New Year’s Eve, when he was seen getting into a physical altercation with his wife, Anna, at a nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Eyewitnesses told TMZ, which released footage of the incident, that the couple got into an argument before Anna slapped White first, with White responding by slapping his wife and making a few more attempts to hit her again as the duo needed to be separated.

White spoke with TMZ about he and Anna slapping each other, admitting both were drinking heavily, as if that’s an excuse for terrible behavior. To White’s credit, he didn’t shy away from the situation or pretend like it’s not a big deal. It’s still despicable, but he came clean by telling TMZ, “You’ve heard me say for years, ‘There’s 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 added: “My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. We’ve known each other since we were almost 12 years old. We’ve obviously been through some shit together and we’ve got three kids, and this is one of those situations that’s horrible.”

Anna also spoke to TMZ and stated: “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.”

The UFC is unapologetically the world’s premier combat sports league. WIthout first-class athletes trying to punch, kick, wrestle and submit their opponents, there’s no point to watching anything inside The Octagon. The sport also no doubt has had a domestic violence problem for years. Instead of being a decision-maker for how his fighters are punished for putting their hands on a woman, White is now in the middle of his own indefensible actions. Would the president of any other major sports organization still be employed if they were caught on video striking their spouse?

Other UFC fighters to be charged or have domestic violence allegations brought against them include Chuck Liddell (he denied the charges and wasn’t prosecuted), Jon Jones (charges dropped after striking a plea deal with prosecutors), Thiago Silva (charges were dropped), Luis Pena (pled not guilty to Oct. 2021 charge, which is still pending) and Mike Perry (denied allegations, no charges filed). White himself has implied a zero-tolerance policy for his fighters when it comes to domestic violence. Apologizing to your spouse is fine and dandy, but will White be held to the same consequences he said should take place for striking a woman? Probably not. And that’s how people in power get away with awful things.