'The Ultimate Fighter 16' ratings: Episode No. 10 draws 643,000 viewers
by John Morgan on Nov 19, 2012 at 5:15 pm ET

Ratings for the 10th episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson" dipped significantly from the previous week and fell to the second-smallest number of the season.

The UFC's reality competition drew 643,000 viewers on FX, down from the 921,000 who tuned in for the debut of episode No. 9 the week prior.

MMAjunkie.com on Monday confirmed the ratings information with industry sources.

The one-hour episode featured the first two quarterfinal fights from the season's welterweight tournament. Team Carwin's Neil Magny won a unanimous decision against his teammate Bristol Marunde, and Team Nelson's Colton Smith also scored a decision win over Team Carwin's Igor Araujo.

The series takes a break this week in observance of Thanksgiving and resumes on Nov. 30 with the remaining two semifinals on episode No. 11

Prior to the latest episode, "TUF 16" was averaging 869,500 viewers. With episode No. 10, the average falls to 846,900 viewers.

"The Ultimate Fighter" returned to a taped format for the 16th edition. Carwin and Nelson serve as coaches and meet in the headlining bout of the Dec. 15 live finale.

Spike TV began airing "TUF" in early 2005, but as part of the UFC's mega-deal with FOX, the series moved to FX in 2012. During the show's longtime run on Spike TV, "TUF" averaged approximately 1.7 million viewers. The 12-episode "TUF: Live" series, the first to air on FX, averaged a little more than 1 million viewers in its debut run.

The "TUF: Live" episode-by-episode ratings include:

"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 1 ratings: 947,000 viewers
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 2 ratings: 872,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 3 ratings: 775,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 4 ratings: 1.1 million
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 5 ratings: 624,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 6 ratings: 811,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 7 ratings: 676,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 8 ratings: 1.1 million
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 9 ratings: 921,000