TUF 17 TV Ratings Dip Slightly, but Remain Strong Two Weeks into the Season

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen opened to the series’ strongest ratings ever since making the move to FX last January.

The third season on FX opened to 1.51 million viewers.

But what is the show’s staying power on a new night and timeslot – Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET – and a revamped production style that has more of a documentary type feel than the shock value of season’s past?

We’re only two episodes into the TUF 17 season, but the early returns are good. The second week of the series held strong at 1.3 million viewers in the follow-up to last week’s two-hour season premier.

The second week followed suit to past seasons, showing a minor dip from the premier.

The proof of improvement due to the changes to the series production value and timeslot won’t come to light until we’re several weeks in. Compared to the first two seasons on FX, which struggled to hover around the one million viewers per episode mark in Season 15, and fell even lower for Season 16, TUF 17 is already a resounding success.

Be sure to Like MMAWeekly.com on Facebook and Follow @MMAWeeklycom on Twitter.