Speaking at a UFC press event on Wednesday, the 53-year-old said there were "no excuses" for the altercation but suggested any repercussions would "hurt the company".

"What should the repercussions be? You tell me. I take 30 days off? How does that hurt me?" he said.

"Me leaving hurts the company, hurts my employees, hurts the fighters. It doesn't hurt me. What is my punishment? Here's my punishment: I have to walk around for however long I live and this is how I'm labelled now.

"It was obviously a horrible personal experience. And, you know, there's no excuses for it. It's something that I'm gonna have to deal with and live with for the rest of my life."

A video, released by US entertainment site TMZ, appeared to show Mr White and his wife Anne arguing on the balcony of a nightclub's VIP room in the Mexican resort of Cabo San Lucas.

Mrs White hits her husband, who then slaps her twice before friends break up the altercation in the short clip recorded by onlookers.

The UFC boss apologised after the incident, saying: "You've heard me say for years there is never, ever an excuse for a man to put his hands on a woman, and now here I am 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, and we've obviously been through some stuff together. We've got three kids, and this is one of those situations which is horrible.

"I'm embarrassed, but it's also one of those situations where right now we're more concerned about our kids."