UFC president Dana White suggests he will not be punished for slapping wife

White says he and his wife have apologised to their three children.

UFC president Dana White has suggested he will not be punished by the organisation for his part in an altercation with his wife.

White, 53, has apologised after a video showed him and his wife Anne slapping each other in the face in a nightclub in Mexico on New Year's Eve.

But asked if there would be repercussions, White said: "What should the repercussions be? You tell me.

"I take 30 days off? How does that hurt me?".

He added: "Me leaving hurts the company, hurts my employees, hurts the fighters. It doesn't hurt me."

The video, released by TMZ, showed White and his wife standing on the balcony of a VIP room at El Squid Roe in Cabo San Lucas.

Following what looked like heated words between the two, Anne hit White across the face after he grabbed her left wrist. White then retaliated by striking his wife before other members of the party intervened.

White has been president of the UFC since 2001.

"I've been against this, I've owned this," he said.

"I'm telling you that I'm wrong, but listen, we've had plenty of discussions internally with Ari (UFC owner Ari Emanuel), ESPN, nobody's happy about this, neither am I. But it happened and I have to deal with it."

"All the criticism that I have received this week is 100 percent warranted."