WEC 51: Miguel Torres vs Charlie Valencia set for co-main event on Sept. 30 in Broomfield

Former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres will return to action for the first time since being sliced open and submitted by Joseph Benavidez when he goes toe-to-toe with Charlie Valencia at the upcoming WEC 51 event from 1ST Bank Center on Sept. 30 in Broomfield, Colorado.

MMAmania.com learned of the pending match-up earlier today.

Torres (37-3) recently posted back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. Aside from tapping out to the Benavidez guillotine back in March, he surrendered his title to Brian Bowles after getting knocked stiff in the main event of WEC 42 in August 2009.

Once considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Torres has some work to do if he expects to get back into title contention and re-establish himself as a world beater.

Stopping Valencia would certainly be a good start.

After a winless 2008 fight campaign, Valencia (12-5) roared back to string together three consecutive victories, including a split decision win over the venerable Akitoshi Tamura at the WEC 46 event earlier this year.

While most of his defeats have come at the hands of the division's top talents, Valencia needs a breakout win in what will be his ninth fight under the WEC banner if he expects to keep up with the pack.

A win over a name like Torres will assuredly bring him bigger and better opportunities.

WEC 51 is expected to be headlined by Featherweight Champion Jose "Junior" Aldo as he defends his 145-pound title against Manny Gamburyan. Leonard Garcia, Mark Hominick and Chan Sung Jung will also be in action.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.