UFC CEO Dana White Once Slapped His Wife During a Heated Argument in Public — What Happened?
"It was about getting through it personally with my kids."
Published Sept. 29 2025, 5:49 p.m. ET
In June 2026, the White House will suffer yet another indignity beyond paving over Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden or covering every surface in gold.
A mixed martial arts event produced by the TKO Group Holdings, Inc., which owns the UFC, will be held on the south lawn of the home where Theodore Roosevelt once slept.
The event was originally scheduled for July 4, but was moved due to logistical reasons. Perhaps people felt that was just too much America for one sitting.
The event was first announced by President Donald Trump in July 2025 and confirmed by UFC CEO Dana White the following month.
The lineup has yet to be announced, but we do know Conor McGregor, who was found liable for sexual assault in November 2024, is in talks with the White House to participate, per The Independent.
Speaking of controversies, Dana and his wife were involved in an incident back in January 2023. Here's what we know.
Here's what we know about the incident between Dana White and his wife.
On New Year's Eve, going into 2023, Dana and his wife, Anne, were partying in Cabo San Lucas to ring in a brand new year when the couple got into a huge fight.
In a video of the altercation shared by TMZ, Dana and Anne were hanging out with friends at El Squid Roe when the two began arguing on a balcony.
The married couple of 26 years were clearly not happy as noted by Anne crying with her head in her hands. She turned to Dana, who grabbed his wife's hand.
That's when Anne slapped Dana, which resulted in the UFC CEO retaliating with two slaps to his wife's face. She quickly backed up into the crowd of onlookers as Dana continued to advance on her.
It took a moment for anyone to step in between the two. Anne repeatedly lunged after Dana before walking away.
Dana apologized for slapping his wife.
The day after the slap fight, Dana spoke with TMZ about the incident. He told the outlet that he and Anne had both been drinking a lot that night. The entrepreneur went on to remind TMZ that he has always said, "There's never ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman."
Dana revealed he is more ashamed than anything else, and was primarily worried about the couple's three children. In a statement to TMZ, Anne said that was out of character for Dana, adding that nothing like that had ever happened before. "We’ve talked this through as a family and apologized to each other," said Anne.
Dana White with his son, Aidan.
In June 2024, Dana appeared on the Club Shay Shay podcast, where he was asked by host Shannon Sharpe if that was one of the toughest things he's ever had to live through.
"It wasn’t about getting through it publicly," said Dana. "It was about getting through it personally with my kids," who had never seen their parents fight like that.