The event was the third UFC event to be held in Japan. UFC 25 was headlined by a fight between Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva, held to determine the new Light Heavyweight Champion following Frank Shamrock's retirement from the UFC. The Octagon announcer was local Sanshiro Matuyama instead of the regular Bruce Buffer.
The event featured the first UFC appearance of future UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante, as well as future PRIDE fighter Ikuhisa Minowa. This event also contained an interview with John Perretti, the UFC matchmaker prior to his replacement, the famous Dana White.
UFC 25 was initially seen live on pay-per-view. Many years later, UFC 25 was finally released as part of a DVD collection (UFC 21–30).