The most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter: Lesnar vs. dos Santos is marred by declining ratings, with the seventh episode receiving only a million viewers according to mmajunkie.com

Since its introduction in 2005, The Ultimate Fighter is synonymous with mixed martial arts. The first season and its finale have been credited numerously by UFC president, Dana White, as the turning point for the UFC. The success of the television series launched the promotion and the sport into the mainstream.

However the most recent episode of The Ultimate Fighter, now in its 13 season, slipped to only a million views. This was a drop from the averaged 1.2 million viewers for the previous episode.

White points to the shows new time slot for the sub par ratings. When episode seven aired on the east coast, it faced stiff competition as the NBA playoffs were airing live as well.

Episode seven saw the wild-card fight between team Lesnar's Chuck O'Neil winning via submission over team dos Santos' Javier Torres. Episode eight will begin the quarterfinal fights.