Former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was scheduled to face rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but Gastelum was recently forced to withdraw from the bout after being flagged by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) for a potential anti-doping violation.
The UFC has expressed interest in keeping Silva on the card and names like Luke Rockhold and Vitor Belfort were thrown out as potential replacements for Gastelum, but “The Spider” didn’t seem interested in either scenario.
Now, however, an idea has emerged out of the blue. According to a report from the Brazilian outlet Combate, the UFC is considering a 195-pound catchweight bout between Silva and No. 8-ranked light heavyweight contender Ovince Saint Preux.
Saint Preux is coming off of an impressive Von Flue choke victory over Marcos Rogerio de Lima last week at UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to that, he had lost three straight bouts to the likes of Jon Jones, Jimi Manuwa and Volkan Oezdemir.
It’s currently unclear if Silva, who’s coming off of a decision victory over Derek Brunson, is interested in fighting OSP.
Is this a bout that intrigues you?
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