UFC 207 Preview: Is Rousey ready to regain championship form?

In case you've haven't heard, Ronda Rousey's return is upon us.

On Friday night, the most dominant fighter in women's MMA history will end a 13-month layoff when she challenges Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 207 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The last Rousey sighting in the Octagon: UFC 193, where Holly Holm dethroned her for the title via vicious second-round knockout.

The former champ's first career defeat - in which she was handily picked apart - led her to contemplate suicide and shun the spotlight she'd once gladly embraced. UFC president Dana White has previously alleged Rousey had felt betrayed by the press following the loss, her near Howard Hughes-like seclusion spawning a litany of questions regarding her mental health and ability to get back in the win column.

With fight night mere hours away, those doubts still abound, as Rousey has continued to keep her time in the public eye to a minimum and eschewed her fight-week media obligations with White's blessing. "Rowdy" - who revealed Friday's fight would be one of her last earlier this year - has even kept her weigh-ins and staredowns with the champion short and sweet, but appears to be in tremendous fighting shape and completely rededicated to returning atop the bantamweight heap, and rightfully so, as Nunes is not a foe to be taken lightly.

Facing an opponent with a similar knack for early finishes, Rousey will be wading into deep waters when she makes her long-awaited return to the Octagon. In her record-setting reign as champion, the judoka walked through six opponents with as many skill sets, but she's yet to face as proficient a Muay Thai practitioner as Nunes, who dismantled Miesha Tate to win the strap at UFC 200 this past July.

The reigning champ has been mostly kept from the spotlight in the lead-up to her first title defense, but she'll be rewarded with ample time in the limelight should she break Rousey with one of her patented early onslaughts. A win would not only gain Nunes some deserved exposure, it could send the former champ packing for good.

Win or lose: no one will be questioning either bantamweight's mettle after fight night.

Related: UFC 207 predictions: Will Nunes put Rousey down for good?

Garbrandt fights for title and team pride

He was asking for it.

Cody Garbrandt began an expletive-laden, pro wrestling reminiscent campaign for a shot at Dominck Cruz's bantamweight title shortly before starching Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 202 this past August, and after the champion obliged "No Love" with some of his patented trash talk, the MMA gods deemed the budding rivalry far too tantalizing to keep out of the Octagon.

The pair didn't dial back the verbal battle once they were booked to serve as the co-headliners of Friday's event, and not surprisingly, it reached a boiling point earlier this week, as Cruz's mouthpiece finally unhinged Garbrandt, who stormed out of their head-to-head interview in pursuit of a good old-fashioned fist fight.

The pair were ultimately kept from engaging in fisticuffs, but Garbrandt's reaction to the smug Cruz's quips and ensuing backstage tirade have left many wondering whether he's bitten off far more than he can chew. That being said, what the 25-year-old lacks in maturity and experience he makes up for with one-punch knockout power, something Mizugaki learned in just 48 seconds.

Friday's grudge match doubles as the toughest fight of Garbrandt's still embryonic career, as Cruz has looked damn near invincible over the last nine years, thanks to his unorthodox footwork, head movement, and counterstriking. "The Dominator" has won 13 straight during in the injury-marred span, besting a few of Garbrandt's Team Alpha Male cohorts along the way.

Team leader and longtime rival Urijah Faber dropped two straight decisions to Cruz after handing him his sole career loss back in 2007, as did former cohort Joseph Benavidez. TJ Dillashaw, who unceremoniously left Team Alpha Male late last year, lost the bantamweight title to Cruz this past January via split decision.

In other words, as if the inherent pressure of his first title bout wasn't burden enough, Garbrandt has also been charged with bringing his camp some much needed closure.

Dillashaw's path to revenge goes through "Hands of Stone"

Moments before Cruz and Garbrandt put their money where their mouths are, two of their bantamweight peers - TJ Dillashaw and John "Hands of Stone" Lineker - will clash in what's expected to decide the next challenger to the division strap.

After dropping a razor-close decision and the title to Cruz this past January, Dillashaw got back in the win column at UFC 200, where he evened the score with Raphael Assuncao by unanimous decision. The former champ deemed the victory enough for another shot at Cruz, only for the UFC matchmakers to tap the more boisterous Garbrandt instead - much to Dillashaw's still raging chagrin. If he bests Lineker, a fearsome slugger and winner of six straight, they'll have no choice but to grant him his wish.

As for Dillashaw's foe, Lineker has quickly risen up the bantamweight ranks, taking four in a row since joining the division in September of last year, but if he does indeed earn a title shot with a win over the 30-year-old, his weight management issues still loom large, as fighters aren't afforded the customary one-pound allowance in championship bouts.

The Brazilian missed weight for the fifth time prior to his last outing, but weighed in at 135.25 pounds ahead of his date with Dillashaw. Here's to hoping he learns to conquer the scale for good, win or lose.