A heavyweight bout between
Curtis Blaydes and former
UFC Heavyweight Championship challenger
Derrick Lewis headlined this event. They were initially scheduled to serve as the headliner for
UFC on ESPN: Smith vs. Clark in November, but the contest was scrapped due to Blaydes
testing positive for COVID-19. A women's bantamweight bout between
Ketlen Vieira and former
Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion and
UFC Women's Featherweight Championship challenger
Yana Kunitskaya took place at this event. They were initially scheduled to meet at
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan in August 2020, but then moved to
UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik a week later. In turn, Vieira had to pull out due to
visa issues. A heavyweight bout between
Serghei Spivac and
Jared Vanderaa was initially scheduled to take place at
UFC 256, but Vanderaa tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from the event. The pairing was then rescheduled for this event. A bantamweight bout between
Aiemann Zahabi and Drako Rodriguez took place at the event. The pairing was previously scheduled to take place in December of 2020 at
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal, but it was scrapped in the days leading up to that event after Zahabi tested positive for COVID-19. A middleweight bout between
Phil Hawes and
Nassourdine Imavov originally expected to take place at
UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar, but was scrapped due to undisclosed reasons just a few hours before the event. They met at this event. A featherweight bout between
Michael Trizano and
Rafael Alves was scheduled for the event. However on February 9, news surfaced that Trizano was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an ankle injury. He was replaced by promotional newcomer
Pat Sabatini.
Jai Herbert was expected to face
Drakkar Klose in a lightweight bout at this event. However, Hebert pulled out in the weeks leading up to the event and was replaced by
Luis Peña. A few hours before the event, the bout was canceled after one of Klose's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. At the weigh-ins,
Ketlen Vieira,
Jared Gordon, Drako Rodriguez and Rafael Alves missed weight for their respective bouts. Vieira weighed in at 138 pounds, two pounds over the women's bantamweight non-title fight limit. Gordon weighed in at 150 pounds, four pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. Rodriguez weighed in at 140.5 pounds, four and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. All of their bouts proceeded at catchweight and Vieira was fined 20% of her individual purse, while Gordon and Rodriguez were fined 30% each, which went to their opponents Yana Kunitskaya,
Danny Chavez and Aiemann Zahabi respectively. Alves weighed in at 157.5 pounds, eleven and a half pounds over the featherweight non-title limit, marking the heaviest weight-miss in UFC history. His bout against
Pat Sabatini was canceled as a result of it. A featherweight bout between
Chas Skelly and
Jamall Emmers was expected to place at the event. However, the bout was canceled moments before it was expected to begin as Emmers suffered back spasms backstage rendering him unable to compete. ==Results==