ET / 10:00 a.m. PT, a rare time slot for UFC events held in North America.

[4] The event was headlined by a featherweight bout between former title challengers Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas.

However, shortly after the bout was announced by the UFC, Green pulled out of the bout citing a leg injury, and was replaced by former WEC & UFC Lightweight champion Benson Henderson[5] Subsequently, Henderson was removed from the bout with Masvidal as he was tabbed as a replacement for Stephen Thompson to face Brandon Thatch in the event headliner on February 14, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 60.

However, Hester pulled out of the fight in early March due to a foot injury.

[8] Subsequently, Barnett was pulled from the card entirely in favor of a matchup with Mark Muñoz in May at UFC Fight Night 66.