The event was the first that the promotion has hosted in Rio Rancho, after previously contesting
UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Khabilov in nearby
Albuquerque in June 2014.
Zuffa previously hosted a
World Extreme Cagefighting event,
WEC 32, at the venue in 2008. A light heavyweight rematch between
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn light heavyweight winner
Corey Anderson and former
KSW Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Błachowicz served as the event headliner in a possible title eliminator. The pairing previously met in September 2015 at
UFC 191, with Anderson winning the encounter via unanimous decision.
Ramazan Emeev was scheduled to face
Tim Means at the event. However, Emeev was removed from the bout in late January for undisclosed reasons and replaced by promotional newcomer Daniel Rodriguez. A light heavyweight bout between
Gadzhimurad Antigulov and
Devin Clark was scheduled to take place at the event. However, Antigulov was pulled from the fight due to an undisclosed reason and replaced by
Dequan Townsend. A women's bantamweight bout between former
UFC Women's Flyweight Champion Nicco Montaño and
Macy Chiasson was scheduled to take place at the event. However, Montaño was forced to pull out on fight week due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer
Shanna Young. At the weigh-ins, former
UFC Flyweight Championship challenger
Ray Borg failed to make weight, coming in at 128 pounds, two pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit of 126 pounds. He was fined 30% of his fight purse, which went to
Rogério Bontorin and their bout proceeded at a catchweight. ==Results==