Urijah Faber is healthy once again and set to return to the cage.

Faber makes his return at WEC 46 on January 10 to face fellow featherweight contender Raphael Assuncao. Both fighters have verbally agreed to fight when the promotion returns to Faber’s backyard of Sacramento, California at the ARCO Arena.

Faber (22-3) last fought in a loss to current 145-pound champion Mike Brown at WEC 41 in June. It was his second straight loss to Brown, and in that fight, Faber fractured his right hand and has spent the past few months rehabbing the injury after surgery.

Assuncao (14-1) is fresh off a victory over Yves Jabouin at WEC 43 on October 10. He is 2-0 since signing with the WEC, and a win against Faber would move his a notch closer to the top of the list of featherweight championship contenders.

Faber and Assuncao is a possible headliner for the January card, but a lightweight title unification bout between champion Jamie Varner and interim titleholder Ben Henderson would be the likely choice to head the card.

For the Varner vs. Henderson match to move forward, Henderson needs clearance from doctors for an injury suffered in his championship victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in San Antonio.

Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff are now set as the main event at WEC 45 on December 19 in Las Vegas.

World Extreme Cagefighting has done well in its past two trips to ARCO Arena, both headlined by Faber.

WEC 34 pulled in 12,682 fans and gate receipts of $738,855, according to the California State Athletic Commission, while WEC41 did slightly better, setting records of 12,706 in attendance and gate receipts of $815,415.