'THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 16' RATINGS: EPISODE NO. 12 DRAWS 678,000 VIEWERS
BY JOHN MORGAN ON DEC 10, 2012 AT 5:20 PM ET

Ratings for the 12th and final taped episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson" took a tumble.

The UFC's reality competition drew 678,000 viewers on FX, down 16 percent from the 804,000 who tuned in for the debut of episode No. 11 the week prior.

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

The one-hour episode featured the two semifinal fights the season's welterweight tournament. Team Nelson's Colton Smith won a unanimous decision against his teammate Jon Manley, and Team Carwin's Mike Ricci scored a brutal knockout win of his teammate Neil Magny.

The 12th episode concluded the taped portion of the series, and the live finale takes place Dec. 15 in Las Vegas

Prior to the latest episode, "TUF 16" was averaging 843,000 viewers. With episode No. 12, the final season average falls slightly to 829,250 viewers.

"The Ultimate Fighter" returned to a taped format for the 16th edition. Carwin was forced to withdraw from the headlining bout of the Dec. 15 live finale and Nelson now meets Matt Mitrione at the event.

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 series returns to FX in January but will move to Tuesdays as Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen serve as coaches.

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
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 10 ratings: 643,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 11 ratings: 804,000
"The Ultimate Fighter 16" episode No. 12 ratings: 678,000