Former IFL featherweight champion Wagnney Fabiano will make the plunge down to the bantamweight division for the first time. His 135-pound debut will come against up-and-comer Frank Gomez at WEC 46 on Jan. 10 in Sacramento, Calif. News of the bout was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Long considered a top-five ranked featherweight, Fabiano decided to drop down to the bantamweight division out of the desire to avoid facing his friend and Nova Uniao teammate, Jose Aldo, who recently captured the WEC featherweight title by defeating former champ Mike Brown at WEC 44 on Nov. 18.

Fabiano (12-2) most recently suffered a shocking upset loss against WEC newcomer Mackens Semerzier at WEC 43 in October. Prior to the loss, he was on an eight-fight winning streak, which included wins in his first two bouts in the WEC as well as a 6-0 stint in the now-defunt IFL promotion.

The nine-year veteran of the sport has finished nine of his 12 career wins and holds notable career wins over the likes of Bao Quach, L.C. Davis, Akitoshi Tamura, John Gunderson and Fredson Paixao.

Gomez has won his last two bouts, scoring a second round submission win over Noah Thomas at WEC 41 in June and most recently defeating Seth Dikun via unanimous decision at WEC 44 on Nov. 18. He previously suffered his lone career loss in his WEC debut against contender Scott Jorgensen at WEC 38 in January.

The Jackson's Submission Fighting product sports a near flawless 8-1 MMA record, with six of those wins coming by stoppage.

WEC 46 will be headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner and interim title-holder Ben Henderson. Also, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will take on rising contender Raphael Assuncao in the co-main event.