‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Ratings: ‘TUF 17’ Episode 3 Averages 1.2 Million Viewers on FX

---

The third installment of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 17 averaged 1.2 million viewers for its Tuesday night broadcast on cable network FX.

Sherdog.com verified the figure with an industry source, who also confirmed that the show drew a 0.92 household rating. The average viewership marks another slight decline for the series, which attracted 1.5 and 1.27 million viewers in its first two weeks.

Episode three of “TUF 17” delivered a crushing knockout to close the hour-long program, as Team Sonnen’s Uriah Hall buried Team Jones’ Adam Cella with a spinning heel kick. After several tense moments, during which the welfare of Cella was unknown, the fallen fighter finally came around. Though Cella regaining consciousness elicited a round of applause from everyone in the UFC training facility, the middleweight nonetheless took a ride to the hospital for precautionary reasons.

Hall’s victory marked the second straight win for Team Sonnen, as lanky Brit Luke Barnatt knocked out the stocky Gilbert Smith with a flying knee at the end of week two. Chael Sonnen finished the episode by announcing next week’s pairing, as Sonnen’s Kevin Casey meets Jones’ Collin Hart.