The tag line for WEC’s Sunday event at Arco Arena in Sacramento says “Varner vs. Henderson” for the WEC Lightweight Title. The truth is that the real main event of the evening is Urijah Faber’s come back in his hometown.

Local television ads during Maloof Production telecasts in the Sacramento market for Kings basketball games have focused on Faber’s return to the cage in his home area. Tickets are being promoted as being as “low” as $40. The building will absolutely be packed to watch Faber return for the first time since losing to Mike Brown last year in a re-match. That match saw Faber break both of his hands and yet string the fight out to a decision.

The WEC Featherweight division situation right now is fascinating. The top three fighters: Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, and Jose Aldo (champion), all seem like kryptonite to each other. Brown’s style is awful for Faber, Aldo’s style made Brown look like a chump, and Faber’s unique style could provide the big test that we have waited to see Aldo perform in the States. But first, Faber has to win his comeback fight and his opponent that night is Raphael Assuncao, who fights out of Atlanta.

On the various sportsbooks, Faber is a -510 favorite to win the fight. In other words, few people think Assuncao has a shot of winning. Faber admitted in a recent Sherdog interview that he is confident that he’s better than Assuncao but that the fight will be a war.

“Yeah, I’m really good man, I mean my hand is feeling great and Raphael is a tough dude but I’m ready for the battle, man, I can’t wait to get in there.

“I don’t think he’s going to be the guy who comes in and dominates. he’s extremely-well rounded, he’s a true mixed martial artist which you know he’s pretty good at everything and very good at some things but you know for me looking at him I think he’s pretty similar to me except I’m going to be a little bit better so I know he comes for a war all the time and I know that he’s always game wherever the fight’s at but I think I’m going to have a slight advantage in all the areas.

“Well, you know our strengths are grappling and then you know the stand-up and he’s got you know really good hands, really good kickboxing, but I think I’m a little bit faster and he’s not a big guy for the weight class like some of the other guys in the weight class so I think I might have a little bit of a strength advantage and when it comes to the grappling side of things he’s a jiu-jitsu guy and he’s had some really good wrestling but my wrestling’s top notch and I’ve added jiu-jitsu over the last six years and so I think I have an advantage there as well, so. Like I said, I think he’s a really good fighter and you know being ranked number 5 in the world is something that he’s earned but I think I’m going to be a great match-up and be a little bit better.”

There’s a lot at stake for Faber’s return in WEC. He had the option of going with Strikeforce but instead signed a new deal with Zuffa and had assurances made to him about the future of WEC in the next few years. Like most of the top WEC fighters, he wants to have more television and PPV exposure. There will be pressure on Faber to do well since he is fighting in Sacramento and conceivably, his fight with Assuncao is an eliminator to determine a new challenger for Jose Aldo’s Featherweight title.

Faber, in the Sherdog interview, denies that the pressure is on him because he’s fighting in Sacramento.

“No, just more motivation you know, the energy there’s awesome and being in my hometown is where I want to be. I think, you know, I don’t think it’s any more added pressure, just more motivation.

“I’ve stayed active the whole time I was injured and you know I was actually working on some different things … working on putting on some strength, and stuff like that, so I actually made some improvements in different areas and I came back to sparring you know better than ever. I was a little bit worried about my hands but it didn’t take long to test them out and they’re 100%.

“You know, I’m just kind of like an extreme optimist so I never even thought about that, I guess looking back at it it’s something that for some boxers has been you know could have been a career-ending injury but I never really thought about that and at this point I’m 100% recovered and things are looking good so but I didn’t let myself stress out about it.

“As far as the you know contenders out there, I think this is the fight that to see who is the number one contender and you know I had a very tough fight with Brown and faced some adversity in that fight and wasn’t able to do really have a 100% go on him with my hands beat up but at this point I think this fight is going to kind of determine the number one spot. I mean, I don’t know what the organization has planned for match-ups for Jose Aldo but I’d love to fight him and love to have the opportunity to get that belt back.”

Should Faber get a win over Assuncao, which he likely will, then all eyes will turn to a mega-fight against Jose Aldo. Aldo poses many problems to Faber — he’s just as fast, he’s just as quick, and he’s got knockout power and a great ground game. His tools are far different than the tools Mike Brown brought to the table and used to beat Faber. Brown used his wrestling and size to neutralize Faber’s physical style. Faber understands that Aldo will not only be the biggest fight of his career, but also his biggest challenge.

“Yeah, I think he’s another guy that matches up you know with me to make an exciting fight. He’s extremely fast and so am I and his stand-up’s incredible and we really didn’t get to see him too much on the ground but when we did see him he seems like he’s you dominant there as well so I think we’re both creative and we both come to fight so that would be another fight that the fans would be the winners in that one and as far as match-ups go, I think I’d be the guy that has the tools to get him.”

Faber has stated repeatedly that he wants Aldo and he wants to win back his Featherweight title. Despite the outcome of that fight, Faber’s options for opponents at Featherweight are getting thin.

“My goal is to get that belt and then I do think there’s some super fights for me out there (at 135 and 155 pounds).”

With potential fights against Jose Aldo, Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles, and WEC/UFC Lightweights, Faber is looking to make as much money as possible before the window on his career closes on him. The book on Faber is that he has trouble against bigger opponents, so moving down to 135 to fight Torres and Bowles might give him a better chance to win than jumping up to 155. Sure, there are some fighters at 155 pounds who are bigger names and bigger draws, but the risk of losing to them is also bigger than it would be fighting smaller opponents.

Given how strong and loyal his fan base is, Urijah Faber will have no trouble selling many fights in the next few years.