A UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion (also former two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion) Jon Jones and former two-time champion Stipe Miocic was expected to headline the event.[3] However on October 25, it was announced that the bout was scrapped after Jones sustained a pectoral muscle injury that will require surgery.[4] As a result, the promotion opted to book an interim title bout between the originally scheduled backup fighter Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall in the co-main event.