After hosting 17 events in the Greater Los Angeles area, this was the promotion's debut at Intuit Dome, which opened in August 2024.
The event marked the promotion's third visit to Inglewood and first since UFC 232 in December 2018.[2] There were concerns regarding the realization of this event due to the series of recent wildfires affecting Southern California, but the venue's organization assured a week before that it would continue as scheduled.[3]
A UFC Lightweight Championship bout between current champion Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan was originally scheduled to headline the event.[4] They previously met at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Oleinik in April 2019, where Makhachev defeated Tsarukyan by unanimous decision.[5] One day before the event, it was reported that Tsarukyan suffered an injury that forced him to pull out of the fight. Renato Moicano, who was originally set to face Beneil Dariush at the same event, stepped in as a replacement for Tsarukyan, and Dariush did not compete at this event.[6]
A light heavyweight bout between Johnny Walker and Bogdan Guskov was scheduled for this event.[12] However, Walker withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Billy Elekana.[13][14]
Zachary Reese and Sedriques Dumas were expected to meet in a middleweight bout at the preliminary card. However, Dumas pulled out during fight week and was replaced by the current LFA Middleweight Champion Azamat Bekoev.[15]
During the event's broadcast, executive producer and one of The Ultimate Fighter creators Craig Piligian was announced as the next "contributor wing" UFC Hall of Fame inductee during International Fight Week festivities in Las Vegas this summer.[16]
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[18]
Fight of the Night: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Performance of the Night: Jiří Procházka and Jailton Almeida
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the California State Athletic Commission. It is important to note the amounts do not include sponsor money, discretionary bonuses, viewership points or additional earnings.[19]
Islam Makhachev: $200,000 (no win bonus) def. Renato Moicano: $250,000
Merab Dvalishvili: $500,000 (no win bonus) def. Umar Nurmagomedov: $100,000
