Dennis Bermudez is looking to take a big step in the right direction and have a super showing Saturday night as he welcomes fan favorite Chan Sung Jung back to action in the main event of UFC Fight Night 104, which is airing live on FS1 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

A former Division I wrestler at Bloomsburg University, Bermudez is competing in his first UFC headlining slot on the most anticipated and viewed sporting weekend of the calendar year. While the main event of the weekend may be the NFL's Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon, Bermudez fully intends to start the weekend off in style.

However, he refuses to get caught up in all the hoopla leading up to the scrap.

"I try not to get all mixed up in it," Bermudez said. "Just being in a fight, whether it's the first fight of the night or a fight in the street, there is a lot of pressure. I try not to get in my own head about being the main event on Super Bowl weekend. I just need to go out there and do what I do."

Bermudez is more than happy to roll out the welcome mat for Jung to step back into high-level Octagon action. The "Korean Zombie" has been out of action due in large part to fulfilling a mandatory military obligation in his home country of South Korea. He was last seen in the cage when he suffered a heartbreaking TKO loss to then UFC lightweight champion Jose Aldo way back in August 2013.

After his opponent's three-and-a-half-year layoff, Bermudez is not quite sure what version of the zombie will walk into the Octagon this weekend.

"If I had that layoff, personally, my approach would be that I missed fighting," Bermudez said. "I miss being in there. I am thirsty. I am hungry. I want to get back in. At the same time, training and recovery may not be what they once were when he was a younger zombie. Time waits for no man."

On paper, this fight has all the markings for bell-to-bell, nonstop violence. Bermudez is a spark plug with vicious striking and will-breaking wrestling that generally leads to Rampage-esque highlight-reel slams and definitive finishes.

From his historic Twister submission and seven-second knockout to various check-cashing performance bonuses in between, Jung's style is can't-miss combat every time out. His constant pressing forward in the face of the heaviest fire and his never-say-die attitude have earned him worldwide fan adulation.

In the final days before the fight, Bermudez shed some light on his game plan that he believes will lead to victory in Saturday night's scrap.

"We are just looking to be better than he is in every position," Bermudez said. "We want to be faster, stronger and more explosive. I am over Fight of the Night. I want Performance of the Night. I am looking to have really lopsided fights in my favor from here on out."

With the fight carrying main event status that also means it will be a five-round affair. Bermudez is excited for the opportunity to fight into the championship rounds. As a fighter with a seemingly endless gas tank, he plans on pushing the pace from start to finish. He can't help but wonder how a few of his earlier losses might have played out had those fights gone to rounds four and five.

"There are a lot of my fights that went to decision where I thought if I had more time I would have really put it to those guys," Bermudez said. "I am on the incline right now. I feel like I get a second wind and start to do better later in fights."

In what is surely one of the signature victories of his young career, Bermudez holds a key win over the current UFC featherweight champion in Max Holloway.

Bermudez weathered early storms and tenaciously came back and took a close split decision victory at UFC 160 in May 2013. With every fighter on the UFC roster now doubling as a matchmaker, Bermudez would choose a rematch with Holloway as his next scrap, but this time there would be a belt at stake.

"I would much rather fight Max Holloway." Bermudez said. "I already beat him. He's got the belt. I want a belt. That's why I am in the sport. He is a total sweetheart and a really nice guy. I like his style, but he's got what I want.

"He has gotten a lot better since I fought him last but so have I."