Brock Lesnar: Is His Brand Tarnished by Vulnerability Inside the Cage and Out?

The Ultimate Fighter 13 is one episode in and already has drawn poor ratings. Even the draw of fan favorite Brock Lesnar couldn't pull up the ratings of the premiere episode.

Unfortunately, the 1.0 household rating it pulled in for its premiere episode is the worst rating for a premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter since the inception of the show seven years ago.

In terms of viewers, the show pulled in 1.5 million viewers in its first showing. The replay of the show that night pulled in an extra 633,000 viewers, bringing the grand total up to 2.1 million viewers that night.

The next lowest-rated premiere episode for The Ultimate Fighter was season eight, which pulled in a 1.2 household rating featuring coaches Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir.

Bloody Elbow made the point that the show's poor premiere ratings could be because of the move in time slots, from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m., which makes sense.

However, could it also be due to the weakening of the Lesnar image?

Since his loss to Cain Velasquez on October 23rd last year at UFC 121, Lesnar has seemingly gone through a tiny metamorphosis. Changes in his personality, attitude and even his fight game have become strikingly noticeable.

No matter where you look now, you see Lesnar, whether it be on ESPN or in interviews online. In those interviews Lesnar seems humbler, more accepting of the loss of his belt, and calmer and more tranquil then ever before.

"Junior is a stand-up guy. Heavy handed. He's got heavy hooks, and a hell of an uppercut. It's a no-brainer. We've got to avoid those things, and we've got to fight this fight straight down the center. Obviously I'm going to win this fight on the ground, I believe. That's the nuts and bolts of it," Lesnar said in an interview with SI.com.

See, the old Lesnar would have never given the props to his opponent.

The mean, tough and brutal exterior of Lesnar seems to have gone soft with that disaster of a performance at UFC 121. Perhaps it's because of all the things he had to overcome to get to this point of becoming a coach on TUF.

In the last year, Lesnar has battled diverticulitis, had a lackluster performance against both Velasquez and Shane Carwin, and seen the birth of another son. It's a load to bear, and maybe the stress is what made Lesnar the tough man he was. But now, the trash-talking, secretive and just generally tough man has become the Jolly Green Giant.

His weakness was proven by Velasquez at UFC 121. Velasquez dominated Lesnar in the stand-up, and that's all it took to knock the bearded Lesnar out and win by TKO in, of all things, the first round.

Not to mention the oddity it is that Lesnar is coaching on TUF. Lesnar is hugely private and has stated such in many interviews.

"It's very basic for me. When I go home, I don't buy into any of the BS. Like I said, it's pretty basic: Train, sleep, family, fight. It's my life. I like it. I've been in front of the cameras for 10, 12 years. I was a star at the University of Minnesota. I went on to World Wrestling Entertainment. Wannabe NFL player. And here I am, the UFC heavyweight champion," Lesnar said in an interview with Yahoo! Sports last October before his fight with Velasquez.

He continued, "I just don't put myself out there to the fans and prostitute my private life to everybody. In today's day and age, with the Internet and cameras and cell phones, I just like being old school and living in the woods and living my life. I came from nothing and at any moment, you can go back to having nothing,"

It's different for him and is definitely different for the Lesnar of old to be on a reality show, even if it is TUF.

Lesnar's coaching opponent this season, Junior dos Santos, also doesn't fit the mold for a TV draw and won't be able to bring back the old Lesnar we all know and love.

Lesnar needed Frank Mir to be his opposing coach—someone who could get under his skin and bring back the great fighter that Lesnar is. It probably wouldn't have made a great fight, but it would have made for great TV. Could you imagine those two having to coach against each other?

See, Lesnar has gone soft outside the cage, and inside the cage no one is afraid of the 280-pound behemoth in the heavyweight division. The "Lesnar Mystique" that once ran rampant is now gone. The ratings for TUF earlier this week prove his following is going elsewhere.

It's sad to see Lesnar's mystique gone, but it's nothing the former heavyweight champ can't get back. If anyone can regain his or her old self and battle through all the stuff Lesnar went through, please speak now. But as of right now, the Lesnar brand is tarnished inside and outside of the cage.