Popular featherweight Urijah Faber, sidelined since a June loss to Mike Brown due to a broken hand, will square off with Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 on January 10 in Sacramento, California. Despite losing four-straight and six of his last seven, veteran Jens Pulver will return to featherweight action in the WEC cage in early-2010.

World Extreme Cagefighting on Thursday officially announced WEC 46: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff, which takes place on December 19 at The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and is headlined by a matchup between lightweight contenders Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff.

The Versus-televised event also features a lightweight co-main event between former IFL standout Chris Horodecki and Anthony Njokuani and a featured bout between bantamweight contenders Joseph Benavidez and Rani Yahya.

A lightweight matchup between WEC newcomer Chris Horodecki and Anthony Njokuani and a bout between bantamweight contenders Damacio Page and Takeya Mizugaki have been added to WEC 45 on December 19 in Las Vegas, according to reports from MMAjunkie and Sherdog.

Lightweights Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff have agreed to square off at WEC 45 on December 19 in Las Vegas, according to Sherdog, in what is expected to be the co-main event of the Versus-televised card. The matchup is the first rumored for WEC 45, which is expected to take place at The Joint at The Hard Rock.

World Extreme Cagefighting is expected to remain in Las Vegas through the end of the year, as the promotion’s rumored WEC 45 event will reportedly take place on December 19 in Sin City, likely at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

WEC lightweight title-holder Jamie Varner, who’s been sidelined with a broken hand since a January win over Donald Cerrone, is expected to return in December against the winner of Saturday’s WEC 43 fight between Cerrone and Ben Henderson, while Faber, also out with a broken hand suffered in a June loss to Mike Brown, is also likely to return at WEC 45 after recently signing a new multi-fight deal with the promotion.