‘TUF 15’ Episode 5 Averages 947,000 Viewers on FX; Bellator 64 Draws 175,000 on MTV2

Friday night’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 averaged a series-low 947,000 viewers on FX.

Sherdog.com confirmed the figure with an industry source on Tuesday, who also revealed that Bellator 64 averaged 175,000 viewers on MTV2, a season high for the Chicago-based promotion.

“TUF 15” took in 1.1 million viewers last week; the season high was set in the premiere, which pulled 1.3 million observers. Featuring bantamweight rivals Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber as coaches, “TUF 15” is the first iteration of the series to air live fights weekly.

Episode five of the ongoing season saw Team Faber build more momentum, as Mike Chiesa took a unanimous decision from Team Cruz’s Jeremy Larsen. After going winless in the season’s first two contests, “The California Kid” has now seen his squad win back-to-back bouts, evening the score at two victories apiece.

Meanwhile, Bellator 64 posted an increase of 35,000 viewers from last week’s event, which netted 140,000 viewers on MTV2. Featuring the second world title fight of the season, Bellator 64 saw Ben Askren successfully defend his welterweight championship against Douglas Lima in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Also noteworthy, episode one of FX’s “UFC Primetime: Jones vs. Evans” averaged 462,000 viewers immediately after the “TUF” broadcast. Additionally, Spike TV’s Friday night counterprogramming effort netted an average of 374,000 viewers from 9 to 11 p.m. ET.