Stephen A. Smith Warned 'Friend' Dana White He'd Be Addressing Wife Slap On Air, Suggests Punishment He Should Face
A video emerged on Monday night showing Dana White in a physical altercation with his wife of 26 years, Anne. The clip was taken inside a club in San Luca, Mexico on New Year's Eve and showed Dana and Anne hitting one another.
The two appear to exchange words, then Anne reels back and slaps the UFC boss across the face. He then struck her in retaliation.
The video of White went viral on Monday night, but coverage of the incident was a bit watered down as the Damar Hamlin situation unfolded just a couple of hours later during Monday Night Football.
There was limited coverage from ESPN about White putting his hands on his wife on Monday and Tuesday, but Stephen A. Smith took time during Wednesday's 'First Take' to comment on the serious situation.
Smith explained that he spoke with White, a good friend of his and warned him he'd be speaking about the matter on air.
“Dana White is not just somebody that’s connected in the world of sports. He’s a friend. I love the guy, personally,” Smith admitted. “So this is a very hard subject for me. We talk all the time, we’ve certainly connected briefly since this happened. He knew there was no way on earth that I wasn’t going to talk about it.”
Smith didn't stop there, he also suggested that White should face the same discipline he would hand one of his UFC fighters if they were caught putting their hands on a woman.
"You do not put your hands on a woman if you are a man,” Smith said. “Dana White knows that. All I can say is that again, he has spoken out against men who put their hands on women before, and whatever punishment you would exact under these circumstances to somebody else is what he should apply to himself.”
Now the question is who will be in charge of enforcing whatever disciplinary measure the UFC comes up with? Smith suggesting that White decide his own punishment is a slippery slope and horrifically bad optics.