Sergio Pettis made his first defence of the Bellator Bantamweight World Championship after winning his first major promotional title in May when he defeated then-champ Juan Archuleta by unanimous decision in the main event of Bellator 258. Kyoji Horiguchi, meanwhile, competed under the Bellator banner for the first time as a rostered fighter on a multifight deal. In June 2019, Horiguchi was lent by RIZIN to Bellator for a one-off fight against Darrion Caldwell – a bout Horiguchi won by unanimous decision to become champion. He later vacated the title after Horiguchi suffered a knee injury that forced him to relinquish the title while he was recovering from surgery.[2][3]
A featherweight bout between John de Jesus and Keoni Diggs was scheduled for this event.[4] However, Diggs had to pull out due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Kai Kamaka III.[5]
A lightweight bout between Dan Moret and Mandel Nallo was scheduled for this event.[6] Nallo subsequently pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Ricardo Seixas.[7] Seixas would pull out of the bout due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Spike Carlyle, with the bout being a catchweight bout at 160 lb.[8]
A lightweight bout between Jay Jay Wilson and Alfie Davis was scheduled for this event, however Davis pulled out of the bout due to unknown reasons.[9][10]
At the weigh-ins, Jared Scoggins missed weight for his bout, weighing in at 140 pounds, 4 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Scoggins was fined 35% of his purse which went to his opponent Josh Hill.[11]