UFC 205’s loss is UFC 206’s gain.
Former light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans was not medically cleared to fight Tim Kennedy in a scheduled preliminary card bout Saturday at Madison Square Garden, so that matchup has been shifted to the Dec. 10 event in Toronto. It will be Evans’ middleweight debut.
The UFC released the following statement on Evans Tuesday night:
“The UFC organization was notified today that the New York State Athletic Commission has denied Rashad Evans a licence to compete at UFC 205 due to a medical issue. Evans’ scheduled bout against Tim Kennedy this coming Saturday, November 12 in New York, will be removed from the fight card. However, both athletes will receive their show money. There are currently no plans to replace this bout.”
Evans is coming off a knockout loss to Glover Teixeira in April. The 37-year-old told MMAFighting there were “irregular findings” from an Oct. 19 MRI he underwent.
“I’m disappointed,” Evans said. “I’m healthy. I don’t want anyone worrying about me. I’m fine, physically speaking. Never felt better. It’s just the commission and their rules. I guess they have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to this.”
Evans (19–5–1) did not go into specifics about what the “irregular findings” were.
Kennedy (18–5) hasn’t fought since a controversial loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178 in September 2014. The 37-year-old military veteran holds notable wins over former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and current middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
UFC 206 features a light-heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson and a Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis co-main event, but not much else so an Evans-Kennedy matchup adds some much needed star power to the Air Canada Centre card.
