Tim Kennedy is looking forward to resuming his fighting career at UFC 205 on Nov. 12 -- even if he's not expecting much profit in doing so.

Kennedy (18-5) is scheduled to face former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans in a middleweight bout at Madison Square Garden this month. It will mark Kennedy's first appearance since September 2014.

The 37-year-old has been focused on other interests and reached a conclusion that he would only return to the cage under special circumstances. A bout against a former champion on arguably the biggest card in UFC history fit that description.

"After Nov. 12, if they're not saying, 'Your next fight is against [middleweight champion] Michael Bisping,' who I smashed, then I don't know," Kennedy said. "I can't even imagine the fight that would bring me back in again.

"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, in a state they just legalized MMA for the first time, for me to come back -- with the potential of, 'Win here, move into title contention.' If it took that much to get me back here in the first place, it sure as hell will take a big, shiny belt for me to stay."

Kennedy is confident a title fight -- and bigger paydays -- are around the corner should he defeat Evans at UFC 205. He has history with Bisping, having beaten him convincingly in a 2014 five-round fight.

Until then, Kennedy says UFC 205 is essentially an investment in his future. After paying taxes, training expenses and pricey New York travel costs, the veteran estimates he'll walk away with very little cash after the event.

"[The UFC] actually had a tax attorney contact us to say, 'Just wanted to warn you guys, here's some tax documents you need to start filling out,'" Kennedy said. "I rented a house in Albuquerque [New Mexico, to train at Jackson-Wink MMA]. I'm paying $5,000 medicals. I'm paying coaches, management, gym fees, recovery costs, cryotherapy.

"I'll probably be a wash for this fight camp in money. Think about that for a minute."

Despite the revelation, Kennedy says he's not necessarily trying to cause waves, just stating the facts. He's known as one of the most outspoken fighters in the sport, particularly when it comes to issues like fighter pay and performance-enhancing drug use, but says it's something he doesn't try to force. He also made it clear the UFC has never tried to "punish" him for it.

The UFC is in an interesting transitional period, after announcing it had been sold to entertainment agency WME-IMG for $4 billion in July. Kennedy says he's optimistic the sport is close to a very positive turn for the fighters involved.

"The sport is at an opportunity in the very near future to make a difference and be something really significant, special and fantastic," Kennedy said. "To see [athletes'] lives be sustained at a [financial] level that's not embarrassingly humiliating, we're close to that corner. I hope we take it and I hope I'm there to take this sport around that corner.

"I'm sure as s--- not in this sport for the money because it's not there yet, but it will be. We're close. Conor McGregor has made huge waves in changing what the realization of what somebody can make, and before him it was Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey. We know the potential is there for earning. We're going to get it, but we're not there yet."

Kennedy's disclosed purse for his last fight, a decision loss to Yoel Romero in Las Vegas, was $70,000. He said he and Jackson-Wink teammate Donald Cerrone have game planned ways to reduce expenses.

Of course, his current focus is on Evans, but it's no secret his sights are very much set on a championship fight. Because as he clearly put it, his appearance at UFC 205 is not about money.

"We have to get extra rooms in New York. You know how much a room in New York is -- how much a flight to New York is," Kennedy said. "[Cerrone] is going to be flying Greg Jackson out, I'm going to fly out [striking coach] Brandon Gibson. We're trying to, economically between the two of us, absorb the financial impact from the aspect of New York.

"I don't want to tell anybody what to think. That's not ever what I've done. I'm going to tell you how it is and you be a smart, intelligent person and interpret what I'm saying. You make your own opinions. I don't want to tell a fan what to think. This is just the truth of the sport. This is the truth about what I'm making. The expenses [involved], people don't understand."