The event was the first that the UFC has hosted in the state of
Missouri and the
Kansas City metropolitan area. The pairing was originally booked for
UFC 201, but Johnson pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was scrapped. UFC officials were initially targeting a featherweight bout between former
UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barão and
Choi Doo-ho to serve as the event headliner. However, as the announcement of the pairing began to circulate, Choi declined the bout, and as a result, Barao was rescheduled against a different opponent at another event. ==Results==