Rashad Evans 185-Pound Debut Set for UFC 209 vs. Daniel Kelly

Rashad Evans will again attempt make his middleweight debut in the Octagon when he faces Daniel Kelly at UFC 209.

ESPN.com first reported the booking on Tuesday evening. UFC 209 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight championship rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson, while Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will vie for interim lightweight gold in the evening’s co-main event.

Evans was supposed to make his initial middleweight foray against Tim Kennedy at UFC 205, but the New York State Athletic Commission denied him a license due to an MRI issue on a pre-fight medical exam. The fight was rebooked for UFC 206, but the Ontario Athletic Commission followed the NYSAC’s lead and refused to issue the former light heavyweight champion a license.

According to multiple reports, “Suga” has been cleared to compete on the March 4 card. He lasst competed at UFC on Fox 19 on April 16, when he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Glover Teixeira in the evening’s main event.

Kelly, 39, enters the matchup on a three-fight winning streak and has been victorious in five of his six promotional appearances overall. Most recently, the Australian judoka outpointed Chris Camozzi at UFC Fight Night 101 on Nov. 26.