UFC Fight Night 22 ratings disappoint, lowest in series history

The Wrestling Observer is reporting Wednesday's UFC Fight Night 22 drew a 0.9 rating, the lowest in history of the Spike TV series.

MMAJunkie provides more details on the show, which peaked at 1.6 million viewers for the main event between Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares:

The event's peak of 1.6 million viewers marks a sharp decline from both March's UFC Fight Night 21 and January's UFC Fight Night 20 events. Each of those broadcasts peaked with 2 million viewers.

The March event, which featured "The Ultimate Fighter 1" finalist Kenny Florian and Japanese superstar Takanori Gomi, also earned a significantly higher average throughout the fight card with 1.7 million viewers.

Wednesday's show averaged 1.2 million viewers.

Although the number is startling to look it, it doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the nature of this card, which had a ton of changes and neither fighter in the main event is considered a draw (and Marquardt's last main event on Spike, at the first Ultimate Fight Night in 2005, was a universally panned fight). The Observer reports the debut of "The Ultimate Fighter 12" drew a 1.3 rating.

SBN coverage of UFC Fight Night 22: Marquardt vs. Palhares

SBN coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 12 debut