This event was the fourth and final UFC Fight Island event that took place on Yas Island, following UFC 251, and, as part of a plan to facilitate the hosting of events involving fighters impacted by U.S. travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight ChampionRobert Whittaker and former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Darren Till served as the event headliner. The event also included fighters that were pulled from other events previously cancelled, as well as the following bouts:
A women's bantamweight bout between former title challenger Bethe Correia and Pannie Kianzad. This bout was also scheduled for the original May 9 date of UFC 250 and removed for the same reasons as the fight above it.
A welterweight bout between Danny Roberts and Nicolas Dalby. They were scheduled to meet at, but the event was the first of five to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Roberts was forced off the card due to injury and replaced by returning veteran Jesse Ronson.
A heavyweight bout between Tom Aspinall and Jake Collier. This fight was also scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards and removed for the same reasons as the previous one.
A welterweight bout between Ramazan Emeev and Shavkat Rakhmonov was expected to take place at the event, but Rakhmonov was forced to withdraw due to injury on July 2 and replaced by Niklas Stolze. Umar Nurmagomedov was expected to face Nathaniel Wood in a bantamweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 3 after his uncle, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, died from complications related to COVID-19. He was replaced by promotional newcomer John Castañeda. A women's strawweight bout between former Invicta FC and UFC Women's Strawweight ChampionCarla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez was scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige nine days earlier. However, the bout was cancelled after one of Rodriguez's cornermentested positive for COVID-19. Rodriguez had her test come back negative, but the bout was scrapped due to precautionary reasons. They were rescheduled for this event. Justin Tafa was expected to face Raphael Pessoa in a heavyweight bout at this event. However, he pulled out on July 15 due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Tanner Boser. At the weigh-ins, Francisco Trinaldo weighed in at 160 pounds, four pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at a catchweight and he was fined 30% of his purse, which went to his opponent Jai Herbert.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
Performance of the Night: Fabrício Werdum, Paul Craig, Khamzat Chimaev, Jesse Ronson, Tom Aspinall and Tanner Boser
Records set
The event's 15 bouts tied UFC 2 for the most on a single card in UFC history. Khamzat Chimaev broke the record for quickest turnaround between UFC wins at 10 days.
