The event was originally expected to take place on September 26, but it was moved up a week.
UFC 253 took place on the former date. UFC officials had initially targeted a welterweight bout between former
UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley and former interim champion
Colby Covington to serve as the event headliner for
UFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs. Edgar, but Woodley announced that the date did not provide him with time suitable enough to prepare because of injuries incurred during his most recent fight. The pairing headlined this event. A heavyweight bout between
Ciryl Gane and
Shamil Abdurakhimov was expected to take place at this event. The pairing was originally scheduled for
UFC 249, but Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he was struck by a
pneumothorax in training. Subsequently, the pairing was rescheduled for
UFC 251 and cancelled a second time as Abdurakhimov was removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons. They were later rebooked for
UFC 253, before eventually having the bout shifted to this event. In turn, the bout then shifted again for undisclosed reasons and was expected to take place four weeks later at
UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie. A flyweight bout between
Jordan Espinosa and
David Dvořák was expected to take place at
UFC 253, but was later rebooked for this event due to undisclosed reasons. A welterweight bout between
Mickey Gall and
Miguel Baeza was scheduled for the event. However, Gall pulled out on September 11 due to an injury. He was replaced by Jeremiah Wells. On September 17, it was announced that the bout was cancelled due to undisclosed reasons. A featherweight bout between
Mirsad Bektić and
Luiz Eduardo Garagorri was scheduled for the event. However, Garagorri was pulled from the fight on September 15 after a
cornerman of his
tested positive for COVID-19. Bektić faced returning veteran
Damon Jackson. ==Results==