The UFC announced that Chase Sherman was out of his scheduled UFC 287 matchup against Karl Williams due to a medical issue. Sherman, who dropped five out of six UFC fights, was looking to take on Williams, who had won five in a row, extending his current streak to six. Karl Williams was initially Chris Barnett's backup, who withdrew from the Ultimate Fighting Championship match for undisclosed reasons. The fight was supposed to take place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. This is not Karl Williams' first appearance in the UFC, as the 33-year-old from Atlanta won his debut fight against Lukasz Brzeski in a unanimous decision in March. The fight extended Williams' win streak to five straight.

The heavyweight battle was one of the UFC's preliminary fights scheduled for April 8, 2023, in Miami, Florida. The fight was part of a massive UFC 287 event that included Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal, Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez, Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio, Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez, Chris Curtis vs. Kelvin Gastelum, Michelle Waterson vs. Luana Pinheiro, Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joe Pyfer, Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez, Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Trey Ogden, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Steve Garcia, and Jacqueline Amorim vs. Sam Hughes.