Josh San Diego

The event featured in the main event a Bellator Welterweight Championship bout between the champion Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch. The bout served as both a title defense for MacDonald and a quarter-final match in the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix. The event featured a Bellator Women's Flyweight Championship bout between the champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Veta Arteaga.

The event saw Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald move up to the middleweight division to challenge Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi for the Bellator middleweight title. MacDonald was attempting to become the second multi-division champion in Bellator history, after former Bellator bantamweight and featherweight champion Joe Warren. In addition, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson met rival and former PRIDE FC middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva for the fourth time in their respective careers. Going into this fight, Silva held a 2-1 advantage in the series.

Bellator 293: Golm vs. James was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on March 31, 2023, at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, United States. The main event of Bellator 293 was a heavyweight match between No. 5-ranked Marcelo Golm and No. 8-ranked Daniel James. Top-ranked Cat Zingano faced the No. 4-ranked Leah McCourt in the co-main event of the card. The main card will also include a middleweight battle between No. 4-ranked John Salter and No. 6-ranked Aaron Jeffrey and a welterweight matchup between No. 10-ranked Jaleel Willis and Rustam Khabilov, a 13-fight UFC veteran who will be making his Bellator debut.