The event included two championship bouts and a fight between the two coaches on the Spike TV show, The Ultimate Fighter.

This championship unification bout occurred as a result of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture's year-long resignation from the promotion.

During his absence, the UFC created an Interim championship, which Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira won by defeating Tim Sylvia.

[4] In his fourth professional fight, Lesnar defeated Couture via technical knockout to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Alves entered the fight after consecutive victories over three top UFC welterweights: Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan.

K-1 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama made his UFC debut against Alan Belcher.