Former UFC lightweight George Roop has signed on with the WEC and will make the plunge down to the bantamweight division for his promotional debut against Jesse Moreng at WEC 46 in January. News of Roop's signing and WEC 46 booking was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Roop (10-5) may be best remembered by fans for being a cast member on the 8th season of The Ulimtate Fighter (TUF), where he became a fan favorite for toughing through the season with a hand injury. He was a member of Team Mir on TUF 8, where he went 2-1 during the season, defeating Roli Delgado and John Polakowski, and losing to eventual lightweight runner-up Phillipe Nover.

Roop was released from the UFC following his loss against George Sotiropoulos at UFC 101 on August 8. He exited the promotion with a 1-2 record, notching his lone Octagon win over David Kaplan at UFC 98 in May. H also suffered a loss in his UFC debut against Shane Nelson at TUF 8 finale. Roop most recently competed as a featherweight at Rage in the Cage 137 on Nov. 14, where he defeated Matt Dell via unanimous decision.

Roop has fought most of his three-year career with Rage in the Cage, fighting 10 of his 15 career bouts with the promotion. He has finished half of his 10 career wins and holds a notable career victory over Strikeforce and PFC veteran Tito Jones.

Moreng took 2008 off and recently returned to fighting in April, where he defeated Brandon Miller via second round TKO. Prior to the win, he suffered his only career loss in his WEC debut against Micah Miller at WEC 26 in March 2007. He was set to make his second WEC appearance at WEC 32 in Feb. 2008 against Scott Jorgensen, however, was forced off of the event with a leg injury.

During his seven-year career, Moreng has competed for other notable promotions such as Rage in the Cage, King of the Cage, Reality Fighting and Ring of Combat. He sports a nearly flawless 9-1 MMA record, with seven of those wins coming by stoppage. Moreng holds a big career win over current WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner.

WEC 46 takes place on Jan. 10 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif., and will be headlined by a WEC lightweight title unification bout between WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner and interim title-holder Benson Henderson. Also, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will take on rising contender Raphael Assuncao in the co-main event.