TUF 17 Continues its Strong Season

The third episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 17” delivered more big numbers for FX last night.

According to TvbytheNumbers.com, last night’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 17” drew in an average of 1.19 million viewers.  That is almost 10 percent more viewers than the highest rated episode of all of last season had (outside of the live finale).

However, the primary source of excitement for the UFC and the FX network may not be the ratings last night’s episode pulled.  The fight that was featured at the end of last night’s show has the MMA world buzzing today.

Uriah Hall and Adam Cella had one of the greatest opening-round fights “TUF” has ever showcased.  Despite being physically outmatched, Cella relentlessly put pressure on Hall from the opening bell.  Both fighters landed solid strikes and the pace never slowed.  Hall finally ended things for Cella with a spectacular spinning kick to the jaw.

UFC President Dana White sat cage-side and was shocked by what he witnessed.  “In my 13 years at UFC I have only seen 5 KO’s like this,” White posted on his Twitter account.

UFC fighter Mike Swick also took to Twitter to share his excitement over watching last night’s episode.  “That’s the kind of KO that can retire fighters who are just at home watching,” Swick stated.

The excitement of last night’s episode is sure to keep MMA fans engaged and tuned in as the season progresses. In fact, the buzz created by Hall’s knockout was so great it completely overshadowed Bellator’s press conference earlier in the day, which officially announced the addition of Randy Couture and Frank Shamrock to its planned MMA reality show.

Expect this season to continue its strong showing next week when Kevin Casey battles Collin Hart, and Team Jones tries desperately to get its first victory.