Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will make his middleweight debut against Tim Kennedy at UFC 205 on Nov. 12 in New York.
Evans announced the 185-pound fight on Saturday during an appearance on CBS Sports.
The UFC 205 pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden is the promotion's first trip to New York since the state lifted a 1997 ban on professional mixed martial arts earlier this year.
"I'm a New Yorker, from upstate New York, for my whole career I've always wanted to fight at Madison Square Garden," Evans said. "It's a dream come true."
Evans (19-5-1) is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Glover Teixeira in April. Fighting out of Boca Raton, Florida, the 36-year-old has been limited to just two appearances in the last two years due to injury. He is 0-2 in those two contests.
The majority of his career has taken place at 205 pounds, and he has also fought at heavyweight. Evans is a former 174-pound collegiate wrestler at Michigan State University.
Kennedy (18-5) hasn't fought since a controversial loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178 in September 2014. Kennedy suffered a TKO loss in the third round of that fight, after Romero took advantage of additional time between rounds when his corner did not immediately remove his stool.
The UFC has not yet announced a main event for UFC 205.
