Varner added that he will not face a replacement opponent at WEC 48 and is instead be on standby should lightweight title-holder Ben Henderson or challenger Donald Cerrone, who meet in the WEC 48 co-headliner, be forced to withdraw.

Barring an injury, Varner will instead return to action in June at WEC 49, an event that is set to take place on June 20 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Canada, according to Top MMA News. With details on Shalorus’ injury unavailable, it is possible he could return to fight Varner at the likely Verus-televised event.

While Varner-Shalorus has been dropped from WEC 48, a bout between featherweights Tyler Toner and Brandon Visher, originally scheduled for December’s WEC 45, has been booked for the event’s preliminary card, according to MMAjunkie.

For the latest WEC news and WEC rumors, including coverage of the upcoming WEC 47 and WEC 48 events, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Kamal Shalorus

The matchup, which Varner confirmed with MMA Weekly on Monday, is expected to take place on the PPV main card.

Varner (16-3), sidelined since January 2009 with various injuries suffered in a win over Donald Cerrone, returned from the near year-long layoff last month, but suffered a third-round submission to interim title-holder Ben Henderson. Prior to the loss, Varner had won five-straight, including wins over Rob McCullough and Marcus Hicks.

Shalorus (6-0-1) is unbeaten in seven professional fights and will look to continue his climb up the lightweight ladder following back-to-back WEC wins over Will Kerr in November and Dave Jansen in January.

WEC 48 is headlined by featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber, and also includes lightweight champ Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone and Mike Brown vs. Manny Gamburyan.

For the latest WEC 48 fight card check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section, and for complete WEC 48 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Jamie Varner

Also suspended for 180 days were Kamal Shalorus, Dave Jansen, Charlie Valencia, Will Campuzano, and Coty Wheeler.

The full list of WEC 46 medical suspensions included:

• Jamie Varner: Suspended for 180 days or until cleared by doctor for right knee and right foot
• Kamal Shalorus: Suspended 180 days or until cleared by doctor for left thumb fracture
• Dave Jansen: Suspended 180 days or until cleared by doctor for right thumb fracture. Suspended 60 days or until cleared by doctor for face and right ear lacerations
• Mackens Semerzier: Suspended 60 days for right eyelid laceration
• Charlie Valencia: Suspended 180 days or until cleared by doctor for possible left elbow fracture
• Akitoshi Tamura: Suspended 60 days or until cleared by doctor for left eyelid laceration
• George Roop: Suspended 60 days unless cleared by doctor for facial laceration
• Will Campuzano: Suspended 180 days or until cleared by doctor for left shoulder strain
• Coty Wheeler: Suspended 180 days for possible orbital fracture and nose fracture. Must be cleared by CT scan. Suspended 60 days for nose laceration

SEE ALSO: WEC 46 recap, WEC 46 results, WEC 46 Salaries, WEC 46 coverage

For the latest WEC news and WEC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Jamie Varner

The official fighter salaries for WEC 46 were:

• Ben Henderson ($22,000 – includes $11,000 win bonus) def. Jamie Varner ($18,000)
• Urijah Faber ($52,000 – $26,000 win bonus) def. Raphael Assuncao ($13,000)
• Kamal Shalorus ($10,000 – $5,000 win bonus) def. Dave Jansen ($4,000)
• Mike Brown ($38,000 – $19,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Morrison ($4,000)
• Deividas Taurosevicius ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Mackens Semerzier ($4,000)
• Charlie Valencia ($18,000 – $9,000 win bonus) def. Akitoshi Tamura ($8,000)
• Wagnney Fabiano ($30,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Clint Godfrey ($3,000)
• Mark Hominick ($10,000 – $5,000 win bonus) def. Bryan Caraway ($4,000)
• Eddie Wineland ($8,000 – $4,000 win bonus) def. George Roop ($3,000)
• Will Campuzano ($6,000 – $3,000 win bonus) def. Coty Wheeler ($3,000)

In addition to the salaries listed above, which are simply those disclosed by the promotion to the athletic commission and not representative of a fighter’s total earnings, Campuzano, Wheeler, and Faber each took home $10,000 “fight night” bonuses for their WEC 46 performances.

SEE ALSO: WEC 46 recap, WEC 46 results, WEC 46 coverage

For the latest WEC news and WEC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Urijah Faber

Varner, the WEC’s lightweight champion who returned to action for the first time in nearly a year, dictated the pace of the fight early, but the interim title-holder Henderson rebounded in the third, quickly grabbing a guillotine choke midway through the frame that forced Varner to tap almost immediately.

Henderson improves to 11-1 with his ninth-straight win, and a rematch with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is likely next following his fourth-consecutive victory in the WEC, while Varner falls to 16-3, snapping a five-fight win streak.

In the co-main event, Faber and Assuncao went back-and-fouth over the opening two rounds before the former featherweight champ Faber got the upper hand in the third and forced Assuncao to tap to a rear naked choke.

The victory moves Faber to 23-3 and a showdown with featherweight champion Jose Aldo looms, while Assuncao falls to 14-2 after having his six-fight win streak halted.

Kamal Shalorus, former featherweight champ Mike Brown, and Deividas Taurosevicius were also victorious on the WEC 46 main card.

The complete results for WEC 46 were:

• Ben Henderson (c) def. Jamie Varner (c) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 2:41
  WEC Lightweight Championship Unification
• Urijah Faber def. Raphael Assuncao via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 3, 3:49
• Kamal Shalorus def. Dave Jansen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Mike Brown def. Anthony Morrison via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 1, 1:54
• Deividas Taurosevicius def. Mackens Semerzier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Charlie Valencia def. Akitoshi Tamura via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Wagnney Fabiano def. Clint Godfrey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mark Hominick def. Bryan Caraway via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:48
• Eddie Wineland def. George Roop via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Will Campuzano def. Coty Wheeler via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete WEC 46 coverage as well as the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Ben Henderson

Lightweight champion Jamie Varner (155), who returns to action for the first time in nearly a year, and interim title-holder Ben Henderson (154.5) hit their marks for their headlining unification matchup, as did featherweights Raphael Assuncao (146) and Urijah Faber (145.5), who square off in the WEC 46 co-main event.

The WEC 46 weigh-ins will be available for viewing on MMAFrenzy.com beginning at 8pm ET by clicking here.

The official weigh-in results for WEC 46 were:

WEC 46 Weigh-in Results

MAIN CARD

• Jamie Varner (c) (155) vs. Ben Henderson (c) (154.5)
  WEC Lightweight Championship Unification
• Raphael Assuncao (146) vs. Urijah Faber (145.5)
• Dave Jansen (156) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
• Mike Brown (146) vs. Anthony Morrison (146)
• Mackens Semerzier (144.5) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (146)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Akitoshi Tamura (135) vs. Charlie Valencia (134)
• Wagnney Fabiano (136) vs. Clint Godfrey (135.5)
• Bryan Caraway (146) vs. Mark Hominick (146)
• George Roop (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
• Will Campuzano (136) vs. Coty Wheeler (136)

For complete WEC 46 coverage and the latest WEC news and WEC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

WEC 46 is headlined by lightweight champion Jamie Varner vs. interim title-holder Ben Henderson, and the main card also includes Raphael Assuncao vs. Urijah Faber, Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus, Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison, and Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius.

The finalized WEC 46 fight card features:

MAIN CARD

• Jamie Varner (c) vs. Ben Henderson (c)
  WEC Lightweight Championship Unification
• Raphael Assuncao vs. Urijah Faber
• Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
• Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
• Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Akitoshi Tamura vs. Charlie Valencia
• Bryan Caraway vs. Mark Hominick
• Wagnney Fabiano vs. Clint Godfrey
• George Roop vs. Eddie Wineland
• Will Campuzano vs. Coty Wheeler

For complete WEC 46 coverage and the latest WEC news and WEC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Varner has held the WEC lightweight title since he won it from Rob McCullough in February of 2008, defending it twice against Marcus Hicks and Donald Cerrone, respectively. Since defeating Cerrone, Varner has been sidelined with injuries suffered in the fight.

Henderson has gone undefeated in his WEC career, including a recent victory over Donald Cerrone in a bout for the WEC interim lightweight belt. The WEC had wanted to have him fight Varner to merge the belts in December, however injuries sustained against Cerrone forced the bout to be pushed back to the current date.

Pictured: Jamie Varner

The Versus-televised event follows November’s WEC 44 card, which will be held at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas and is headlined by featherweight champ Mike Brown vs. challenger Jose Aldo.

Originally expected to feature the return of lightweight champ Jamie Varner against recently-crowned interim title-holder Ben Henderson as well as the return of former featherweight champ Urijah Faber, it remains to be seen what matchup will headline the event as Henderson’s injuries suffered in last weekend’s win over Donald Cerrone will sideline him until early next year and Faber’s return is currently slated for January.

During the latest installment of ESPN’s “MMA Live,” Cerrone’s teammate Rashad Evans said “The Cowboy” could get his anticipated rematch with Varner with Henderson hurt, and the Cerrone-Varner matchup appears to be a possibility to headline WEC 45, though a non-title bout, including the return of former bantamweight king Miguel Torres, could be tapped for the WEC 45 main event.

One confirmed participant for WEC 45 is Bart Palaszewski, who returns to the WEC after scoring a knockout win outside the promotion earlier this month.

For the latest WEC 45 news and WEC 45 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Originally targeted for December, Henderson’s five-round battle with Cerrone on Saturday at WEC 43 forced the fight to be postponed until January or February, according to MMA Fanhouse.