The event marked the promotion's second visit to the United States and second in
Colorado, since
ONE Fight Night 10, which took place in
Broomfield in May 2023. A
ONE Women's Strawweight World Championship bout between current champion
Xiong Jing Nan and the
ONE Women's Atomweight Champion (also
ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix winner, former
ONE Women's Atomweight Muay Thai and
Kickboxing World Champion)
Stamp Fairtex was expected to headline the event. However on May 21, it was announced that Stamp was forced to withdraw due to serious knee injury. A
ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship bout between current champion (also the
ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing Champion and former
ONE Flyweight Muay Thai Champion)
Jonathan Haggerty and the
ONE Flyweight Kickboxing Champion Superlek Kiatmuu9 served as the new main event. The pairing previously met at Yokkao 31 in October 2018, which Superlek won by TKO in second round. A
ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Championship bout between current champion (also
2022 ADCC World Champion)
Kade Ruotolo and
Mikey Musumeci was expected to take place at the event. However, on September 1, it was announced that Ruotolo had withdrawn from the bout due to injury. Musumeci now was expected to face Bebeto Oliveira in a flyweight title instead.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-05 |title=Mikey Musumeci Defends Flyweight Title Against Bebeto Oliveira Following Kade Ruotolo's Withdrawal A lightweight bout between Maurice Abévi and Samat Mamedov was removed from the event after Mamedov pulled out with a broken arm during the weigh-ins.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-05 |title=ONE 168: Denver Weigh-In Results and Video At the weigh-ins, the bout between
Aung La Nsang and Shamil Erdogan moved to 213.75 lb after the pairing missed weight and hydration in the designated time window. Josue Cruz missed weight (142 lb) and was fined 30% of his purse to Johan Ghazali, Ghazali has also re-weighed in at 141.5 lb.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-06 |title=ONE 168: Denver Weigh-In & Hydration Test Results == Results ==