Standout MMA fighters enjoy first hockey game while hyping UFC Fight Night at BB&T Center

UFC Fight Night on April 27 is from the BB&T Center in Sunrise, and No. 1 UFC middleweight Yoel Soldier of God Romero (13-3) will battle Ronaldo Jacare Souza (26-6) in the main event.

The event will be broadcast on ESPN.

Romero, 41, is from Miami via Cuba. A two-time Olympian for Cuba, Romero won silver in 2000 and placed fourth in 2004 in freestyle wrestling. He trains at American Top Team in South Florida.

Ranked No .3 in UFC, Souza, 39, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and submission grappler, experienced in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo.

This will mark their second meeting as Romero won a split decision at UFC 194 in 2015.

UFC Night at Florida Panthers

To promote their fight, Romero and Souza dropped the puck for the NHL Florida Panthers home game against the Arizona Coyotes last month at the BB&T Center.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson welcomed them to center ice for the puck drop. It was the first hockey game for Romero and Souza, and they had a good time, even though no fights broke out.

After the 4-2 victory over Arizona, Panthers defenseman Josh Brown, a UFC fan, talks UFC Night at BB&T Center.

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Jim Varsallone

Miami Herald

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Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription