The audience for the record-setting third episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights, which featured the highly promoted opening-round matchup between former IFL champion Roy Nelson and past EliteXC headliner Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, has grown even larger.

While the audience was initially announced as 5.3 million viewers, DVR viewing (referred to as “Live+7 Day data”) pushed the number even higher, Spike TV officials today announced.

An eight percent increase for the September 30 episode has pushed the total audience to 5.7 million viewers.

The previous record for a “TUF” episode was set in 2006 by the “TUF 3″ debut, which scored 2.8 million viewers. However, that number was shattered by the “TUF 10″ debut in September when 4.1 million viewers tuned in for the highly publicized season opener.

The record-setting third episode peaked with 6.1 viewers for the final 15 minutes of the 60-minute show (7.25 million with DVR viewing). Nelson topped Ferguson via TKO in that episode.

No episode of “TUF 10″ had dipped below 2.8 million viewers until last week, when episode No. 7 drew just 2.5 million viewers.

Show by show ratings for TUF 10:

• Episode No. 1: 4.1 million viewers
• Episode No. 2: 2.9 million viewers
• Episode No. 3: 5.3 million viewers
• Episode No. 4: 2.8 million viewers
• Episode No. 5: 2.8 million viewers
• Episode No. 6: 2.8 million viewers
• Episode No. 7: 2.5 million viewers