Silva was briefly linked to a rematch against Brandon Vera on May 15, 2012, at . However, Vera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Igor Pokrajac. Silva, however, was pulled from this bout on March 6 when it was announced he would replace injured Antônio Rogério Nogueira against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fuel TV 2. On April 14, Silva faced rising prospect Alexander Gustafsson in Gustafsson's hometown of Stockholm, Sweden. Gustafsson used his massive reach, and stayed in the outside and Silva couldn't find his distance, Gustafsson knocked Silva down with an uppercut early in the first round that also caused a relatively large cut on the forehead of the Brazilian. He lost the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).