Iaquinta pursuing Myles (photo Josh Hedges / Zuffa )

By FCF Staff

After a season that promoted live fights as a new twist for the ongoing “Ultimate Fighter” series, the UFC and FX have reportedly elected to end the experiment and will return the show to its original, all taped format.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the move to Yahoo Sports.

The story furthers that TUF will continue to air on Friday nights, for at least one more season, despite reports in recent months that the show’s ratings have declined since moving from Spike.

The Yahoo story cites FX spokesperson Dominic Pagone, who says that the channel’s Friday night ratings improved by 69% for adults aged 18-49 as a result of TUF Live.  According to Pagone,  the show was the second most watched program among males aged 18-34 and 18-49 on basic cable Friday nights.

The UFC President characterized the first season to be aired by FX as a “smash hit home run”.

White also relayed that if the upcoming season isn’t up to his “standards”, however, they may explore moving the program to another night. The program was reportedly assigned to Fridays because it was the only open slot on FX.

When TUF was broadcast Spike the ground breaking program aired on Wednesday nights.

TUF 16 will feature welterweight fighters and is set to air in September. The season’s coaches have not been announced.