Dana White, president of the UFC, admitted to hitting his wife Anne on New Year’s Eve during a news conference on Wednesday. This drew criticism from two former fighters who ridiculed his failure to self-impose a punishment for the high-profile event.
White stated, “There are no justifications for it.” “I will have to deal with and live with this for the remainder of my life.
“There is no defense for this, and no one should be defending me for this, whatever. The criticism I have received this week and will get in the future is entirely justified.
TMZ released a video of White slapping his wife while they were on vacation in Mexico. The footage demonstrates that his smack was in response to her initial slap. Then, others at the party interceded.
White stated that no additional disciplinary action would be taken over the incident.
“Here’s my punishment: I must walk about for as long as I live, and this is now my label,” he explained. “My other punishment is that I’m confident a large number of people who formerly had regard for me. Whether it be the media, fighters, friends, or acquaintances – no longer have respect for me. There are many things I must deal with for the rest of my life that are a far greater penalty than, what, a 30- or 60-day absence?”
Not everyone associated with the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world was pleased with White’s remarks.
Dana White’s lack of punishment for slapping wife
Later on, Wednesday, former UFC fighter Ramsey Nijem criticized White’s remarks by referencing a nine-month suspension he received in 2019 for a positive marijuana test when he was signed to the Professional Fighters League.
“When I was suspended for nine months for marijuana. I believe a better punishment would have been to be identified as a marijuana user,” Nijem stated. “I must spend the rest of my life living with the stigma of being a marijuana consumer,” said the commissioners.
Former UFC lightweight title contender Al Iaquinta immediately followed, posting: “When I was barred from collecting bonuses for three fights for swearing at the crowd and destroying a hotel room, I believe a more appropriate penalty would have been to be recognized as a crowd-cursing hotel-room destroyer.”
White has been under more criticism as a result of his remarks on Fox Sports Live in 2014. In which he stated, “There’s one thing you never recover from, and that’s touching a woman. This has been the case in the UFC since our inception. You cannot recover from putting your hands on a woman.
Wednesday, the 53-year-old executive stated that he was particularly upset with himself. Because he has been a champion against violence against women.
“I’m still quite opinionated about this,” he stated. “It’s unbelievable that I’m even having this talk with you guys.”
Anne White previously told TMZ that the smack was “uncharacteristic” of her.
“Nothing similar has ever occurred before,” she stated. “Unfortunately, we both had too much to drink on New Year’s Eve. And things went out of hand on both sides. We’ve discussed this as a family and apologized to one another.”
