Two fighters, Jesse Moreng and Rafael Rebello, had to withdraw from WEC 46 due to reasons that are still not clear as of the time of this post. Moreng was originally scheduled to face George Roop while Rebello was supposed to take on Eddie Wineland at the event, which is scheduled to take place on January 10 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, CA.

So instead of looking for two opponents, WEC decided – probably in the interest of time – to pit Roop against Wineland on the WEC 46 fight card. The change was first announced at The Northwest Indiana Times and sources close to the event have stated that verbal agreements are in place.

Those of you who have followed Roop probably know that he was a regular on The Ultimate Fighter 8; he defeated Rolando Delgado and John Polakowski on his way to the semifinals, but was defeated by Phillipe Nover. This will be Roop’s first fight in WEC, and his first since dropping down two divisions from his previous lightweight slot.

Meanwhile, Wineland hopes to climb the WEC bantamweight ladder as his last bout was an impressive unanimous decision over Manny Tapia at WEC 43 back in October.

With the recent card changes, WEC 46: Varner vs. Henderson looks like this:

Main Card

Preliminary Card

*Not yet officially announced