Dana White apologizes for overstepping bounds with judge in Macau, says he was given some ‘misinformation’

Dana White found himself in a fresh controversy following Saturday's UFC Fight Night: Macau, as he took an executive decision to relieve judge Howard Hughes of his duties for the night due to apparent incompetence.

As expected, the impetuous decision came back to haunt White, who had mentioned in the post-fight press conference that he suggested to Hughes that he "sit in the stands with a beer and watch the fights." On Tuesday afternoon, the UFC released a statement following an internal review that found White guilty of a breach of protocol.

White took a moment during the UFC 180 media scrum on Tuesday afternoon to apologize for his actions after getting a "little crazy" on fight night.

"It is no secret how fired up I get when there's bad judging. But I have to apologize to judge Hughes," White said in his media scrum. "I did get some misinformation. He didn't score the second fight 30-27 for the fighter from China  [Yao Zhikui vs Royston Wee].

"I got a little crazy and overstepped my bounds. It's not the first time, and hopefully it's the last time I'll ever do that. So yeah...I was wrong."

In the statement released by the UFC, the promotion made it clear that in cases where the event takes place internationally without a governmental body regulating the event, then UFC protocol dictates that "internal regulators" handle all common functions like the hiring of officials without the interference of any executives or employees from the promotion.