Exclusive: 'Dark Side of the Cage' producer Tim Healy reveals why UFC and Dana White were not part of the VICE TV series: "Not to waste our time"

Tim Healy recently opened up about VICE TV's 'Dark Side of the Cage' documentary series and explained why Dana White and the UFC weren't involved in the show's production. While the veteran producer and writer admitted that the UFC was a central entity in mixed martial arts, the show mainly focused on shining a light on fighters and their stories.

'Dark Side of the Cage' is a ten-episode series that aims to showcase the non-glamorous side of the MMA world and get into the nitty-gritty details of the prizefighting industry by narrating never-before-heard stories of some combat sports icons.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Healy opened up about not having White or the Fertitta brothers involved in the show and said:

"No, we know enough about the UFC and Dana to know not to waste our time, right? Really, back to one of my original points is, it's not a series about the UFC... There's no avoiding the UFC, the UFC is the UFC, right? They're the pre-eminent promotion, and all the fighters spent their time in the UFC and crossed paths with Dana White and the Fertittas... We didn't reach out to Dana and we didn't reach out to the Fertittas because we weren't telling the UFC's story."

Check out Tim Healy's comments below (7:40):

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Executive producer Tim Healy on how telling the UFC's story inspired 'Dark Side of the Cage' series

Tim Healy recently opened up about how 'Dark Side of the Cage' was a result of his production company doing an episode going over the UFC's rise to the top in the 'Dark Side of the 90's' VICE TV series. After the show was a success, VICE was convinced that the MMA genre was one to be explored further.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Healy lauded the UFC for its popularity and recalled doing a two-hour episode on their rise. He said:

"My production company, Railsplitter Pictures, we produced 'Dark Side of the 90’s' for Vice, and when we were brainstorming episodes, we came up with let’s tell the story of the UFC... So we did a two-parter, we did 2 hours on the dark side of the UFC, and it did really, really well. It was received really well."

He continued:

"So when those ratings came in, we reached out to Vice right away, and we said, ‘Look, there’s something here... Let’s do 'Dark Side of the Cage.' They jumped right on it and they greenlit these ten, one-hour episodes, and that’s really the backstory of the genesis of the idea." [H/t: MMA Fighting]