Rashad Evans confirms middleweight bout with Tim Kennedy at UFC 205 in NYC

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will make his middleweight debut at UFC 205 – and his opponent will be a former teammate.

A 185-pound bout between Evans (19-5-1 MMA, 14-5-1 UFC) and Tim Kennedy (18-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is the latest addition to November’s milestone UFC 205 lineup.

Evans confirmed the matchup and his change in weight class on tonight’s Titan FC 41 broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. FloCombat and MMAFighting.com previously reported the bout.

UFC 205 takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

After winning “The Ultimate Fighter 2” in 2005 as a heavyweight and spending all but one of his UFC fights at light heavyweight, Evans makes a career change by moving to middleweight at a crucial time. “Suga” is riding a two-fight skid and is just 2-4 overall in his past six fights.

Evans, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings, has only competed twice in the past three years. Injuries have kept him out of the octagon, and since returning, he’s struggled, with his more recent bout a first-round knockout loss to Glover Teixeira at UFC on FOX 19 in April. He’ll try to get back on track against Kennedy, who trains at his former camp of Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in Albuquerque, N.M.

Kennedy, meanwhile, returns to competition for the first time since a controversial third-round TKO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178 in September 2014.

The loss snapped a four-fight winning streak for Kennedy, who’s ranked No. 9, with the most recent a unanimous decision over current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping in April 2014. Kennedy attempts to add another UFC champion to his list of wins when he takes on Evans.

The latest UFC 205 card now includes:

Donald Cerrone vs. Robbie Lawler
Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy
Thiago Alves vs. Al Iaquinta
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Gian Villante