after holloway was pulled from the event, paul felder also offered to step in to face nurmagomedov as he weighed in at 155, but the new york state athletic commission (nysac) declined it due to felder being unranked in the ufc official rankings. the ufc booked felder's opponent al iaquinta instead. due to weighing 0.2 lbs over the championship weight limit, iaquinta would not be officially eligible for the title in case he won, but ufc president dana white expressed that he would be considered champion by the ufc, and treated as such to the extent possible under regulations. the nysac later reaffirmed that iaquinta can't be officially recognized as champion. both felder and pettis were also off the event. the bout between iaquinta and felder was originally scheduled for ufc 218. however, iaquinta pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was rescheduled for this event.