Recently, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva found himself without an opponent for his UFC 212 scrap after streaking contender Kelvin Gastelum was forced out of the fight with a USADA violation stemming from a failed fight night drug test for marijuana.

As a result, the UFC has been seeking a replacement opponent for Anderson Silva. According to reports, Silva has turned down fill-in fights against former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, and middleweight #1 contender Yoel Romero. In addition, Silva shut down the possibility of a rematch with Vitor Belfort.

As a result, the UFC is now reportedly looking into a rather shocking matchup for Silva at UFC 212, one that will likely surprise the MMA community.

According to Combate, the UFC is looking to have light heavyweight contender Ovince Saint Preux step into the Octagon with Silva in a catchweight fight at UFC 212 following his dominant win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima this past weekend at ‘UFC Fight Night: Nashville’.

Ovince Saint Preux, who returned to the win column with the win over De Lima, is no stranger to high-profile fights. After having a 2-fight win streak snapped by Glover Teixeira in 2015, Ovince Saint Preux returned to the win column with a unanimous decision win over Rafael Cavalcante in 2016. Following that, Ovince Saint Preux stepped into the Octagon on short notice against Jon Jones to fight for the interim light heavyweight title. OSP lost the fight via unanimous decision, and went on to drop two more in a row before returning to the win column this past weekend with an impressive ‘Von Flue’ submission, which his coaches have since dubbed the ‘Von Saint Preux’ choke.

So far no word yet on whether or not Silva will accept the potential fight, however the possibility of the UFC offering Silva a catchweight fight against St-Preux is one that will likely leave fight fans intrigued.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/27/2017.