The UFC honcho and Anne White, who've been married for 26 years, were celebrating Saturday night with friends in El Squid Roe ... but things took a turn shortly after they all welcomed in 2023 at midnight.
The couple and their group were in a VIP area above the dance floor, and when Dana leaned over to say something to Anne ... she reacted by slapping him across the face. Dana immediately slapped her back in the face, before friends jumped in and pulled them apart -- and it all played out in plain view of patrons down below.
Eyewitnesses in the club tell TMZ Sports ... Dana and Anne both seemed heavily intoxicated prior to the violence, and the video seems to bear that out, because things went from zero to 100 in an instant -- seemingly for no reason. Further, we're told the conflict was all over in less than a minute.
He says he's embarrassed by this "horrible" incident, and he and Anne have apologized to each other. He says they're "good," but their biggest concern now is for their 3 kids ... with whom they've already discussed the fight.
Meanwhile, Anne tells TMZ Sports ... "Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years. 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. I just hope people will respect our privacy for the sake of our kids."
"I'm one of the guys—you've heard me say for years there's never, ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman," he said. "And now here I am on TMZ talking about it. My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. We've known each other since we were 12 years old. We've obviously been through some s--t together, and we've got three kids. And this is one of those situations that's horrible."
White added that "there was definitely a lot of alcohol involved, but that's no excuse."
White became UFC's president in 2001, when Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta purchased the promotion for $2 million.
After former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punched his then-fiancée in 2014, White defended UFC's approach toward domestic violence and said the company had "a track record of getting rid of many people that have done bad things."
"There's one thing that you never bounce back from and that's putting your hands on a woman," he said. "Been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don't bounce back from putting your hands on a woman."
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