Dana White will not be stepping away from the UFC after altercation with his wife, claims his punishment will be being known as someone who hits women

Dana White says no one should be defending him as he was in the wrong after he hit his wife on New Year’s Eve.

White spoke to TMZ after the incident and took full responsibility, but he says he was surprised to see people defending him. Instead, White says all the backlash he has gotten is warranted as he is in the wrong.

“I’m sure you guys have seen the TMZ video and my interview. It was obviously a horrible personal experience, there are no excuses for it,” White said at UFC Vegas 67 media day. “It is something I’m going to have to deal with (and) live with for the rest of my life. One thing I do want to clarify, that I didn’t talk about on TMZ because I didn’t expect it and didn’t see it coming, is the people that are defending me. There’s never an excuse, there is no defense for this, and people should not be defending me over this thing no matter what. All the criticism that I have received this week is 100% warranted… It’s crazy I’m even here having this conversation with you guys… This is the first time it’s happened and I guarantee you it will never happen again. Nobody should be defending me.”

Although Dana White is taking the blame, many have wondered what his punishment would be. Some have called for White to be removed as the UFC president but he doesn’t think that is the punishment. Instead, White says his punishment is being known as someone that hits women.

“What should the repercussions be? You tell me. I take 30 days off, how does that hurt me? I told you guys when we were going through COVID, COVID could last 10 years, I could sit it out,” White said. “It is much like COVID actually, me leaving hurts the company, hurts my employees, hurts the fighters. I could have left in 2016, I don’t know. Do I need to reflect? No, I don’t need to reflect. The next morning when I woke up, I have been against this, I’ve owned this, I’m telling you that I’m wrong. We have plenty of discussions internally with Ari, ESPN, nobody is happy, nobody is happy about this, and neither am I.

“But, it happened and I have to deal with it,” White concluded. “What is my punishment? Here’s my punishment, I have to walk around for however I long I live and this is how I’m labeled now. My other punishment, I’m sure a lot of people whether it be media, fighters, friends, or acquaintances who had respect for me might not have respect for me now. There are a lot of things that I’m going to have to deal for the rest of my life that are way more of a punishment then what, I take a 30-day, 60-day absence. That’s not a punishment, the punishment is that I did it.”

What do you think of UFC President Dana White’s comments on the incident?