Dana White beating his wife up

Dana White is facing calls to step down from his role as president of the UFC after a 2014 interview resurfaced in which he claimed you can 'never bounce back from putting your hands on a woman'.

White apologized Tuesday after a video emerged of him publicly slapping his wife  in the face during an argument on New Year's Eve.

The 53-year-old White has been married to his wife Anne since 1996. The couple has had three children together over the last 26 years as his net worth ballooned to a reported $500 million with the development of the UFC, the world's most popular mixed martial arts promotion.

But his position at the top of the UFC may be on the line now after a 2014 interview surfaced, in which he reacted to a video of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice abusing his wife.

Speaking to FOX Sports Live at the time, White said: 'It's a tough one. First of all the video is horrifying. Absolutely horrifying. You're talking about a guy who's been in the fight business since he was 19 years old. It is the most disturbing thing you will ever see.

'The thing that's just as bad as the punch is that he shows no remorse after he does it. You know, if you did something in anger and you go, 'Oh my god. What did I do?' There's none of that with this guy. I don't know all the ins and outs of what Roger Goodell did or knew or how it was handled but it's definitely bad. I can tell you this: I wouldn't want to be Roger Goodell.

'We've been human beings in letting these guys, other guys make up for what they've done and come back. There's one thing that you never bounce back from and that's putting your hands on a woman. Been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don't bounce back from putting your hands on a woman.'

White and his wife were celebrating New Year's Eve at El Squid Roe in Cabo San Lucas, where the clip was filmed. The footage shows White appearing to say something to Anne, who reacts by slapping him. He then slaps her back before the pair are split up.

Addressing the incident to TMZ, the UFC chief said: 'My wife and I were out Saturday night on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately that is what happened.

'I am one of the guys who says there is never, ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman and now here I am on TMZ talking about it.

'This is one of those situations that is horrible. I am embarrassed. We have three kids and since the video popped up, we have shown the kids and we are more focused on our family right now.

'People are going to have their opinions on this and people's opinions would be right, especially in my case. You don't put your hands on a woman, ever.'

His wife Anne is quoted by TMZ as saying: '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.'

Think they'll just let it blow over, and he might reappear around the March PPV.

Helwani has probably been walking around like he had injected viagra all week, with Dildo & Dana both happening last week

Dana's Power Slap programme also ruined* before it started

Hope I don't have the aggro for tickets to 286, that I had for the July show.

They sold me floor seats, then I got a message saying 'sorry we had a payment fault and your tickets weren't secured'

will you take my odds of 1.2 for him to still be in place? how much do you want on?

If Dana gets fired from the UFC, it will dent the brand in the short term. He's a big figurehead