In a media briefing on Wednesday, UFC president Dana White admitted to hitting his wife Anne on New Year’s Eve, triggering criticism from two former fighters who ridiculed his failure to self-impose discipline for the high-profile affair.
“Punishment Enough”
White stated there are no excuses and he will be forced to cope and live with it for the remainder of his life.
TMZ released a video of White hitting his wife while vacationing in Mexico. The footage establishes his smack was in response to her initial slap. Then, other people at the party interceded.
Well, Simith was condemned publicly for what he did to Chris rock. but there’s no public condemnation for Dana White for abusing his wife. And he has a long history of abusing females. pic.twitter.com/KrHyYAuOpj
— Don Salmon (@dijoni) January 12, 2023
White stated no additional disciplinary action would be taken over the event.
He stated this was his fate, that he must walk with it for as long as he lives; this is now his identity. His other sanction is he’s certain that a large number of people who previously regarded him with respect no longer do so.
This includes the media, fighters, friends, and acquaintances. There are several things he must deal with for the rest of his life that are far more severe than a 30-or-60-day absence.
Not everyone associated with the largest mixed martial arts business in the world was pleased with White’s remarks.
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.
Called Out
Nijem said when he was banned for nine months for marijuana usage, a more appropriate penalty would have been to be identified as a marijuana user.
If the penalty commissioners had recognized him as a marijuana user for the rest of his life, he would have had to accept it.
When I was suspended from winning bonuses for 3 fights for cursing at the crowd and wrecking a hotel room, I think the better punishment would have been to be known as a crowd cursing hotel wrecker 😂 @danawhite https://t.co/lcIYqyt2n9
— Al Iaquinta🗽 (@ALIAQUINTA) January 12, 2023
Former UFC lightweight championship contender Al Iaquinta immediately followed, stating he believes a harsher penalty would have been to be recognized as a crowd-swearing hotel-room destroyer.
This is after he was barred from collecting bonuses for three fights for swearing at the crowd and destroying a hotel room.
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 cannot recover from and that’s touching a woman. This has been the case in the UFC since our inception. You cannot recover from placing your hands on a lady.”
Wednesday, the 53-year-old CEO stated he was particularly upset since he has been a champion against violence against women.
He stated he was highly opinionated about this and he still is, adding it is ridiculous that he was even having a conversation about this. Anne White previously told TMZ that the smack was “uncharacteristic” of her.
She stated nothing such had ever occurred before. On New Year’s Eve, however, they both drank excessively; the situation became out of hand on both sides so they had a family discussion and apologized to one another.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
