Video taking off 53x its usual first day

"I wrestled, and it saved my life": Tito Ortiz on Dark Side of the Cage

VICE TV's portrait follows the Huntington Beach Bad Boy from a hard childhood and UFC title fights to a city council seat and a Florida cantina.

Channel:

VICE TV Story of October 15, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 176,195 views a day, 53 times a normal first day on this channel (3,304).

Tito Ortiz: The Controversial Life of UFC's Superstar | Dark Side of the Cage (Episode 7)

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

2:05Ortiz describes a Santa Ana childhood shaped by his parents' drug addiction and poverty.
4:49Coach Paul Herrera brings him to wrestling, which leads to a college wrestling scholarship.
6:05After meeting Tank Abbott, he steps in at UFC 13 and wins his debut in 31 seconds.
12:30Ortiz hires Dana White as manager, shortly before White and the Fertittas buy the UFC in 2001.
26:48The planned boxing exhibition with White collapses and turns into years of public insults.
37:45He wins a Huntington Beach council seat in 2020, then resigns after six months amid controversy.

Tito Ortiz says it early, and the rest of the episode tests how far that rescue carried him. The sixth installment of Dark Side of the Cage's second season gives the fighter who called himself the Huntington Beach Bad Boy a full 44 minutes.

It drew close to 174,000 views in its first 23 hours. A longer VICE TV upload usually opens with a few thousand. Two shorter clips came before it: one on the persona Ortiz built to be hated, one on the boxing match he nearly had with Dana White.

The episode starts far from the Octagon. Ortiz recalls a childhood in Santa Ana with parents caught in drug addiction. He also recalls watching a close friend get shot, after which his mother moved him back to Huntington Beach. High school coach Paul Herrera put him on a wrestling mat. Later, a short-notice spot at UFC 13 became a debut win in 31 seconds.

Then comes the career many fans remember: the feud with Ken Shamrock and the Lion's Den camp, the championship, and a stretch in jail over a street fight. Dana White arrives as Ortiz's manager and turns into his boss when White and the Fertitta brothers buy the UFC in 2001. "Dana was his manager, now he's the boss," Randy Couture puts it. Chuck Liddell, once a friend and training partner, becomes the opponent Ortiz hesitated to face, until the UFC created an interim belt.

Under the video, many viewers trace how they first met Ortiz, through a PlayStation 2 fighting game or the family's old UFC tapes. Others recall him popping up in music videos and video games back in the day.

The later chapters take in his relationship with Jenna Jameson and a seat on the Huntington Beach City Council that ended in resignation after six months. The closing stretch is quieter: Ortiz and his wife, Amber Nichole, in Florida, running Tito's Cantina while he coaches young wrestlers, back in the sport he says saved him.

Published on Trari

Where next?

Also in TV networks and streaming servicesVideo taking off 14x its usual first daySon Sukku and Eita Nagayama take The Blue Road across bordersThe Netflix thriller pairs two investigators on a linked murder case, with Han Jun-hee of D.P. directing.Channel: Netflix K-Content · Story of October 24, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

What viewers say

Jen’s Pulver, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and BJ Penn were the first fighters I knew because UFC: Throwdown on PS2. My dad saw me playing the demo, and then showed me we had UFC 5 & 11 on VHS in 2002-2003 ish.
@greeneyegamerSee it on YouTube
He was everywhere back in the day. I remember his cameos in a Korn music videos and a scooter video game.
@KwaighzoSee it on YouTube
Honestly good to see him getting his flowers. Had a tough life, made the most of it. By all accounts a good guy. Respect
@cultureshock8435See it on YouTube

7 more comments

Say whatever you want about tito ortiz. He's a mma legend pioneer. One of the reasons why I started watching ufc/mma
@thommoeuth6118See it on YouTube
Man, vice coming back strong! This series is fantastic
@KillersFromTheWestSee it on YouTube
watch tito as a coach on the early ultimate fighter if u want ur opinion of him drastically changed. tito is all heart and u gotta respect it
@HotBoxTruckingSee it on YouTube
Love or hate him, laugh at him or not....he's a legend and one of the guys who brought mma mainstream.
@kjax0630See it on YouTube
happy for him that he found peace and happiness
@justamutt5294See it on YouTube
I met Tito in person, he visited us in Iraq in 2010. He was a *super cool dude* and preferred to hang out with the enlisted guys instead of super high ranking people! Tito is the man!
@rollingrock3480See it on YouTube
This ended so good! I’m happy for Tito and his family.
@michaelevans9418See it on YouTube