UFC Middleweight Championship bout between the current champion Israel Adesanya and former challenger Yoel Romero is expected to headline the event.

UFC Women's Strawweight Championship bout between the current champion Zhang Weili and former champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk is expected to take place at the event.

A bantamweight bout between Sean O'Malley and José Alberto Quiñónez was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 229. However, it was scrapped after O'Malley failed a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug test. The bout was then expected to take place at UFC 247, but it was eventually moved to this event for unknown reasons.

While not officially announced by the organization, a featherweight bout between Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens was expected to take place at the event. However, Stephens was removed from the card in mid-January with an injury. The pairing is expected to be left intact and rescheduled for UFC 249 on 18 April.

A featherweight bout between Douglas Silva de Andrade and Movsar Evloev was scheduled to take place at the event. However, de Andrade withdrew from the bout due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Jamall Emmers.

A middleweight bout between Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan was scheduled at the event; however it was announced on February 20, 2020 that the bout has moved to UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris.