Nakatani is moving up in weight from bantamweight to super bantamweight for this fight. He previously won titles at flyweight, junior bantamweight, and bantamweight. Nakatani made his super bantamweight debut in December in Riyadh, defeating Sebastian Hernandez by unanimous decision.
Inoue fought four times in 2025. He last fought at Tokyo Dome in May 2024, knocking out Luis Nery before a crowd of around 50,000. Inoue was knocked down for the first time in his career in the first round of the Nery fight.
Inoue defeated Alan Picasso in December in Riyadh on the same card as Nakatani's fight.