TUF 22 Premiere Brings In Best Ratings Since 2013

On Wednesday night’s premiere of season 22 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ we got to see what a show with UFC interim featherweight Conor McGregor would look like. He’s captivated the MMA audience with his trash talk and his fighting style and it appears all that transformed into huge ratings.

McGregor and Urijah Faber’s back and forth, as well as some pretty interesting fights led to the biggest ratings for a TUF premiere on FS1 since 2013 (Team Rousey vs. Team Tate).

It’s not like it’s a big surprise. The UFC knew what they were doing putting McGregor on the show at this point in his career. It’s also a good balance of opposites, with Faber on the other end, relaxed and laid back, and also down to earth a little more than the Irishman.

FOX Sports Press Release:

A peak audience of 745,000 viewers watched the season 22 premiere Wednesday night. The show posted an average of 622,000 viewers over the first airing (10:00 PM ET – Midnight ET), while an additional 66,000 viewers watched an encore airing later in the evening (1:00 AM ET – 3:00 AM ET). THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER was FS1’s most-watched show on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s premiere viewership is up +27 over THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: AMERICAN TOP TEAM VS. BLACKZILIANS season 21 launch on Wednesday, April 22, 2015 (622,000 vs. 490,000 viewers) and is +16 above THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: A CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED season 20 debut on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 (622,000 vs. 536,000).

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