The good news – Saturday’s Kimbo Slice-fueled “Ultimate Finale” was the most-watched “The Ultimate Fighter” season-ender to date. The bad news – the card drew a smaller audience than a mid-season episode of the show that featured Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson in preliminary “Ultimate Fighter” action.
The UFC show’s tenth season finale drew an average of 3.7 million viewers, with a peak of 5.2 million for the Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander fight. Kimbo’s drawing power eclipsed that of Roy Nelson, who won this season’s “Ultimate Fighter” contract with a knockout victory over Brendan Schaub in the show’s featured attraction.
With a viewership count that ranks third on the all-time list for live UFC fight cards, the show was a ratings success despite coming in below the 5.3 million viewer average for the Slice-Nelson episode. It drew the night’s top cable rating among men 18-34 and 18-49.