As we all rise from the barbecue-fueled Fourth of July food coma, the UFC will be waiting for us like a reliable ex-girlfriend with confidence issues come Saturday night.
What's more, we also get the usual smorgasbord of varied violence highlighted by a critical middleweight co-headliner and some undercard insanity sure to satiate even the most fight starved of fans.
So read on and get all up to date on what I think about everything. You know you want to.
Undercard
As per usual, another UFC undercard delivers a diverse mix of main-card castaways, undercard regulars and maybe a future headliner or two.
That headliner status seemed to be reserved for Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga, but consecutive stoppage losses inside the Octagon have him scrambling for his livelihood against one of the UFC's most unlikely competitors.
Normally a decade in the sport with no UFC invite in sight is a sign that it may be time to consider an occupation that doesn't involve broken orbital bones and torn hamstrings. For Justin McCully (Pictures), success turned out to be the fruit of determination when he scored a win in his UFC debut over Dutch anti-grappler Antoni Hardonk (Pictures).
Going two for two will require some sleight of hand and force of fist from "The Insane One," who simply doesn't match up well with Gonzaga. A plodding striker and ineffective grappler, McCully gives up every advantage in the book as well as several undocumented ones to Gonzaga.
This is your usual undercard rebuilding effort, and "Napao" will make sure it stays true to form by scoring an uneventful first-round submission win. That is assuming the Nevada State Athletic Commission allows a self-declared rubber-room candidate to enter the cage.
No psychological evaluations needed for the dustup between Cole Miller (Pictures) and Jorge Gurgel (Pictures), but the loser will need a lollipop and a hug considering both fighters are on shaky ground.
Despite a respectable 3-2 mark in the UFC, Gurgel (12-3) has failed to impress thanks to his own go-for-broke mentality that often leaves him too battered to make use of his supposedly considerable grappling skills.
We've all seen plenty of Cole Miller (Pictures) (13-3) on the mat, and the impossibly lanky "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" aficionado has turned heads with his submission acumen. That willingness to work off his back cost him dearly in his last bout, however, as Jeremy Stephens (Pictures) capitalized on a prone Miller with a vicious ground-and-pound offensive.
No such worries against Gurgel, who's about as reliable as Kobe Bryant when it comes to making sound decisions come clutch time. The early going should see Miller capitalize on his reach to score points before settling into a back-and-forth grappling affair that ends in his favor with a unanimous decision.
If anyone can relate to Gurgel in the poor decision-making department, it would be fellow alumnus of "The Ultimate Fighter" Melvin Guillard (Pictures) (21-7-2), who makes his return to the UFC against the pride of Mannheim, Germany, Dennis Siver (Pictures).
While Siver (11-5) doesn't have Guillard's spotty history outside the cage, he does sport a 1-2 UFC mark in a division full of sharks with laser beams mounted on their heads. Considering Guillard's own .500 Octagon resume, these two are likely fighting for their place under the UFC banner.
With neither man holding much of a grappling background, expect plenty of standing fireworks with Siver's technical proficiency finding the holes in Guillard's undisciplined style. Barring a miracle crescent moon kick from "The Young Assassin," Siver takes a comfortable judges' decision.
Closing out the evening's abbreviated undercard is the ongoing re-education of Corey Hill (2-0). He puts his blue-chip status on the line against Justin Buchholz (Pictures) and his tragic dye job.
Unfortunate color choices aside, Buchholz (7-2) should be dead set on erasing his unfortunate UFC debut, which ended with a submission loss to MMA's premier fancy man, Matt Wiman (Pictures). Despite Hill's MMA neophyte status, he made good in his own Octagon debut with an impressive dismantling of Joe Veres (Pictures).
More impressive shows of lanky lethality await for Mr. Hill, and Buchholz will be the latest canvas for Hill's impossibly long-range strikes. The end comes early thanks to Buchholz's habit of storming out from the opening bell, as Hill puts the Californian down with a monstrous clinch knee.
Afterward, bank on Dana White getting Hill to reach that pickle jar no one can seem to reach. Modern MMA is all about versatility, folks.
Griffin vs. Aurelio
With the lightweight division proving to be fertile ground for crackling fight of the night candidates, Tyson Griffin and Marcus Aurelio will open the pay-per-view portion of the evening in the first of two critical lightweight tilts on the main card.
Any mention of fight of the night should immediately bring Griffin to mind. He has built his UFC career on delivering spectacular, show-stealing bouts whether in victory or defeat. The first of those instant classics ended with Griffin dropping a unanimous decision to fellow fighting phenom Frank Edgar (Pictures), but the pendulum swung the other way when Joe Rogan's favorite "badonkadonk" edged out a pair of split decisions over Clay Guida (Pictures) and Thiago Tavares (Pictures).
Now coming off a solid showing against Gleison Tibau (Pictures), Griffin is matched against a man struggling to rediscover the magic that gave him his Buster Douglas moment.
The image of Marcus Aurelio strangling the oxygen out of then lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi (Pictures) is burned into the mind of any MMA fan who witnessed the feat. But lately the sight of an uninspired Aurelio slogging his way through bouts has become far more familiar.
A string of lackadaisical performances sent "Maximus" spiraling out of control faster than Russell Crowe in a hotel lobby. Despite notching dominant wins in his past two UFC bouts, toppling Luke Caudillo (Pictures) and Ryan Roberts isn't going to get you back in the good graces of anyone.
In other words, Aurelio needs to prove he can take out a top-10 caliber opponent lest he be remembered as a one-hit wonder on the level of Dexys Midnight Runners.
The flip side of the coin is that Griffin can stifle Aurelio's suffocating top control since he is the superior wrestler and has the striking to keep Aurelio from getting too froggy with takedown attempts. As always, Aurelio is a major threat to finish a bout if he can gain top control. That is a big "if" against Griffin, though, and the more likely result is three rounds of Aurelio getting used to the sight of Griffin's fists.
Fight of the night is likely out of reach for Griffin this time around, but a lopsided decision at the expense of the would-be lightweight emperor won't be. Lytle vs. Koscheck
Timeless stories abound in the world of the fistically inclined, but few are as commonplace as the brash newcomer taking on the humble veteran. So it will go again when all-around uber-jock Josh "Kos" Koscheck takes on all-around credit to humanity Chris "Lights Out" Lytle.
Aside from holding an obvious edge in quality of nickname, Lytle (25-15-5) has a world of experience on the SpikeTV alumnus. Yet all the experience in the world has done nothing to launch him into the MMA stratosphere.
Likely because all that experience comes with the baggage of a few losses and the prerequisite tough breaks that come with willfully entering a cage. Opportunities for the instant vindication Lytle seeks are few and far between in the stacked welterweight division, but erasing the would-be "future" of his long-time stomping ground would be a good start.
Toss that bit of information Koscheck's way sometime and you're likely to get nothing more than the smirk that has led to page after page of mindless Internet-aided bashing.
While Koscheck (10-2) isn't exactly Lance Armstrong in the likeability department, the man can fight and has proven it with wins over some of the division's most dangerous competitors. The most recent victory came against Dustin Hazelett (Pictures), who tested both Koscheck's chin and submission defense only to come up short against the collegiate wrestling convert.
With a new UFC contract in tow to go along with his impressive win, the road to fulfilling his blatantly obvious potential begins with the kind of wily veteran known to give opponents fits. This won't be easy for Koscheck. He will have to contend with Lytle's powerful punches and surprisingly slick grappling while trying to score offense of his own.
More than likely, we'll get a retread of Lytle's bout with Matt Hughes (Pictures), which saw Lytle frustrate the original MMA farm boy for 15 minutes before ultimately losing a unanimous decision thanks primarily to the disparity in wrestling ability.
That disparity will be clear from the opening bell against Koscheck, who will revert to old form by using the top-control special to take a lopsided but less than entertaining decision.