UFC on ESPN 3 Moved from Miami to Fort Lauderdale; Multiple Bouts Added to April 27 Event

UFC on ESPN 3 is changing locations.

It was announced during the UFC Prague broadcast on Saturday that the April 27 event will now take place at BB&T Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The event was initially slated for American Airlines Arena in Miami. A middleweight clash between Yoel Romero and Paulo Henrique Costa has been targeted for the headliner, although it has not been officially announced by the promotion.

Several new bouts were also confirmed for the card: Carla Esparza vs. Livinha Souza at strawweight; Andrei Arlovski vs. Augusto Sakai at heavyweight; Jim Miller vs. Jason Gonzalez at lightweight; Court McGee vs. Dhiego Lima at welterweight; Jessica Penne vs. Jodie Esquibel at strawweight.

Esparza, the UFC’s inaugural strawweight queen, is looking to rebound after back-to-back losses against Tatiana Suarez and Claudia Gadelha. A former Invicta FC titlist, Souza has kicked off her promotional tenure with wins over Sarah Frota and Alex Chambers.

Arlovski enters the event on a three-bout skid, including a split-decision setback to Walt Harris in his most recent outing at UFC 232. A six-time Bellator veteran, Sakai debuted in the Octagon with a third-round TKO of Chase Sherman at UFC Fight Night 137.

Miller has won just once in his last six appearances and is coming off a first-round submission loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC on Fox 31. Gonzalez will be returning to action for the first time since September 2017, when he fell to Gregor Gillespie via second-round submission at UFC Fight Night 118.

McGee stopped a two-fight skid in his last outing, as he outpointed Alex Garcia at UFC Fight Night 138. Lima, meanwhile, ended a three-bout losing streak with a first-round knockout of Chad Laprise at UFC 231.

Esquibel and Penne were scheduled to square off at UFC on ESPN 1 in Phoenix on Feb. 17, but the 115-pound was scrapped on the day of the event after Penne was injured warming up.