Mijaín López Núñez and Yoel Romero reunited in Daghestan, Russia, for the first time in nearly two decades, during the team wrestling event "Daghestan against North Ossetia", held at the Ali Aliyev Sports Complex in the coastal city of Kaspiysk.
It was the five-time Olympic champion himself who announced the reunion on his Facebook account with several videos alongside his compatriot: “Today, after 20 years with my brother The Soldier of God. Yoel Romero. (P del Río in action).”
Both athletes are from Pinar del Río and met on the Cuban national wrestling team —both Greco-Roman and freestyle— in the early 2000s, before their paths took radically different directions.
Mijaín López remained in Cuba and became the greatest Olympic icon in the history of wrestling, with five consecutive gold medals between 2008 and 2024, being the first athlete to win the same individual event at the Olympic Games five times.
Romero, for his part, emigrated and became a global figure in mixed martial arts, competing in the UFC, Bellator, and PFL under the nickname "Soldier of God."
The reunion took place in one of the most vibrant sports arenas in the world of wrestling: the match between the two most dominant schools on the planet, where Dagestan triumphed over North Ossetia by 8–2.
Mijaín López attended the event invited by the Dagestani wrestler Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020 and six-time world champion.
The UFC star Islam Makhachev was also present, having to make his way through thousands of fans who overwhelmed the entrance doors of the venue.
In December 2025, Yoel Romero had returned to professional wrestling and won another title at the age of 48, demonstrating that his sports career is far from over.
The reunion generated an emotional reaction on social media, especially among Cubans both on and off the island.
The Cuban actor Liester Ledesma was one of those who reacted most profoundly, reflecting on the symbolism of the embrace between two compatriots with differing views.
"If two Cubans with different opinions cannot come together in an embrace, we are not ready to rebuild a new country. Cuba's future cannot emerge from hatred and revenge. It must begin with forgiveness, kindness, and the ability to see each other as brothers again, even while thinking differently. Reconstructing the nation will mean healing," wrote Ledesma.
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