(Assunção is confident that he’ll be a force at 145. Photo courtesy of Eric Langley Photography)

Four years ago Junior Assunção walked out of the UFC Octagon following a disappointing loss to an up-and-comer by the name of Nate Diaz. Soon afterwards he received the dreaded phone call that every fighter hopes will never come from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva telling them to string together a handful of wins in the minor-league circuit and wait to be called back up to the big show.

6-1 in his last seven fights since losing to Diaz, Assunção (11-4) has not lost in three years. Although he says he is willing to fight anywhere the opportunity exists and reveals that he is planning a drop down to his more natural weight of 145 for his next bout,  the current Xtreme Fighting Championships lightweight champion admits he is eagerly and patiently waiting for his UFC callback.

“I’m not specifically looking to go back to the UFC, but I think there would be better competition for me in the there because of the athletes they have. I was fighting at 155 and with the merger of the WEC with the UFC there were a lot of lightweights went to the UFC and it became very crowded,” he says. “My plan is to go down to 145 and I think when I do, I should get a call to fight for them anytime now.”

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Three months after Benson Henderson squeaked past Donald Cerrone in a grueling (and controversial) five-rounder at WEC 43, and a year after Jamie Varner defended his lightweight title in his own contentious battle against Cowboy, the WEC’s top two lightweights met last night at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento to determine an undisputed 155-pound ruler — and this time, the scorecards would not be necessary.

Henderson’s inhuman ability to resist submission holds served him well in WEC 46′s main event. The first round saw Varner latch on a tight guillotine against the fence after slamming Henderson to the mat, but "Smooth" stayed calm and escaped. Except for one strange moment when Varner wandered away with his back turned after taking a body kick — apparently looking for a pause in the action, which he didn’t receive — Varner seemed to have the edge early on. The second round was an evenly-pitched striking battle, with both fighters testing out their kicks; Henderson looked comfortable against the champ, but wasn’t pushing the pace.

In the end, Henderson’s reactive style turned out to be the perfect strategy. Midway through the third round, Varner shot in for a double-leg takedown, and Smooth countered with a flying guillotine that made Varner tap almost immediately, earning him the WEC’s unified lightweight title. Varner wasn’t exactly gracious in defeat: "S*** happens. I was winning the fight, all he was doing was throwing body kicks. I got the takedowns, had the control…go ahead and boo. I came to fight, Ben came to grapple. Two different things." Christ, what a bitch.

(If he can handle that, he can handle anything.)

According to a new report by MMA Weekly, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will return to action for the first time since his decision loss to Mike Brown in June, when he takes on top contender Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 (January 11th, Sacramento). Faber has spent the last few months rehabbing the hand injuries he suffered against Brown, but described the January event as "perfect timing for me."

Though Assuncao may not be a household name yet, the 14-1 submission specialist has won both of his appearances in the WEC (decisions over Jameel Massouh and Yves Jabouin) and we consider him to be one of the ten best featherweights in the world right now. Faber vs. Assuncao is slated to be WEC 46′s co-main event, supporting the lightweight title unification bout between Jamie Varner and Benson Henderson — unless Henderson needs more time to recover from his own injuries, in which case it’ll be up to the California Kid to carry the card. Will Faber be able to re-establish himself in the division he ruled for almost three years, or will Assuncao put himself on that map as the WEC’s next featherweight star?