UFC 205 Cheat Sheet: Rashad Evans versus Tim Kennedy

— -- In a year that already has proved to be massive for the UFC, with one major card after another, UFC 205 on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York looks to be the biggest and most important of them all. In honor of such a marquee event, ESPN.com is providing dedicated previews to all 13 bouts on the card, breaking down what's at stake and projecting who will win, along with quotes and statistics for each fighter.

Middleweights: Rashad Evans (19-5-1) vs. Tim Kennedy (18-5)

Odds as of Nov. 3: Kennedy -240; Evans 200

Dana White's thoughts

"I always thought Rashad was small for 205. And let's not forget, he fought on the heavyweight version of The Ultimate Fighter. I always thought he should be at 185 pounds, but he didn't want want to do it.

"Listen, Rashad is a super talented guy. My thing with Rashad -- the last few years I didn't know how much his head was in it. Kennedy is a tough dude who always comes forward and I think he'll bring the best out of Rashad. I've had those talks with Rashad: 'It doesn't seem like you're here, man.' I've just always thought he's super talented, explosive, great wrestler, knockout power, he's got all the tools."

What's at stake?

Kennedy: After UFC 205, Bisping title shot or ... retirement?

Kennedy is pretty confident he can beat Michael Bisping, the current UFC 185-pound champion. Probably because it hasn't been that long since he did it.

For Kennedy, 37, UFC 205 will mark his first appearance since a frustrating, controversial loss to Yoel Romero in September 2014. At this point in his career, Kennedy is pretty committed to only accepting big fights. He's also frequently out of the country, which can make booking a fight difficult.

An offer to fight Evans in Madison Square Garden was just the kind of offer to bring him back into the cage, but Kennedy says that should say something about his future demands. Basically, it will take an even sweeter offer to bring him back beyond this.

"If [the UFC] isn't saying, 'Your next fight is against Bisping,' who I smashed last time, then I don't even know," Kennedy said. "I can't imagine the fight that would bring me in again. If it took Madison Square Garden, on the biggest fight card in MMA history, against a former light heavyweight champion, perennial contender, coming to a new weight class for the first time, in a state where they just legalized MMA -- If it took that much to get me back here in the first place, it will sure as hell take a big, shiny belt for me to stay."

Not that Kennedy is overlooking Evans, whom he has trained alongside at Jackson-Wink MMA in the past and says naturally outweighs him by as much as 35 pounds. This will be Evans's first fight at 185, after years of competition at 205.

"He had about 20 to 30 pounds on me when he was here, and that was when he was in fight camp," Kennedy said. "So, maybe a 35-pound difference naturally.

"He's been a special athlete for a long time. He's going to show up on weight on that scale and he's gonna do it smart. I always thought he was an undersized light heavyweight. I'm confident he's doing it the correct way, dieting, exercising, doing the work."

Evans: "Once I made up my mind to continue, the doubt stopped right away"

If Evans' fighting career wasn't quite in jeopardy following a first-round knockout loss in April, it was at least a bit uncertain.

The 12-year veteran lasted less than two minutes in that fight before succumbing to a Glover Teixeira left hook. Afterwards he called the performance "embarrassing," and said he didn't want to lose "heart or hope" in fighting but something had to change.

One big change ahead of this fight is a 20-pound change. Evans has played with the idea of moving to middleweight in the past and he'll ultimately do so here, in his 26th professional fight.

"I'm usually counting down the days of a fight camp, waiting for that week off before the fight." Evans said. "This camp, I've been telling myself to go easy during some of these days, I feel so good. I feel healthy. I've cleaned out my diet. I'm really happy with everything and I'm walking around everywhere with my shirt off.

"Once I made up my mind this was something I was going to continue, the doubt stopped right away. Those were my raw feelings at the time, after the loss. When I stepped in the Octagon, I didn't feel the connection I normally did. A lot of it was just bringing things in to the cage from my personal life. I've made peace with a lot of areas and it's allowed me to just focus on fighting."

In addition to turning heads in south Florida, Evans says his new, leaner physique will allow him to do something he hasn't been able to do for years competing at a higher weight -- impose his strong wrestling skills on opponents.

"A lot of these guys were cutting from 230. As I'm getting older and lighter, I was going in at 210 pounds. The impact was a lot different and I finally said, 'You know what? These guys are just way bigger." I haven't had the strength to grab someone and really impose my will on them. That's when I decided to make the drop."

Key stats

• Evans: 19-5-1 (14-5-1 UFC); middleweight debut
• Evans: 50 takedowns in UFC career, eighth-most among active UFC fighters
• Kennedy: 18-5 (3-1 UFC); first fight since Sep 2014
• Kennedy: 14 of 18 wins by stoppage (7 by knockout, 7 by submission)

Breakdown

It's easy to talk yourself into an Evans win here. Kennedy has been away for two years, but more than that, Evans still seems like he's one right hand or left hook away from old magic.

The unfortunate truth is that minus one dominant performance against Chael Sonnen three years ago, Evans hasn't looked right in a while. What's interesting about that is that Sonnen is a middleweight, and if you listen to Evans's comments, he believes that's noteworthy. At light heavy, Evans was undersized. At middleweight, maybe he will look like that power wrestler his career was built on.

If that is to be the case though, this seems like a tough matchup for his middleweight entrance. Kennedy will not be an easy target for offensive wrestling, and even though Evans hits harder, Kennedy's chin is probably in better shape at this point. Evans has been a little gun-shy in recent years and the weight cut is a bit of an unknown. Early success with his wrestling would be a huge confidence boost.

Prediction: Kennedy by decision.

You make the call: