Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos is eyeing his next fight under the UFC banner inside of the octagon.

If you recall, Santos was flagged for a potential USADA anti-doping violation back in August of 2017. As a result of that violation, he was forced out of his UFC 215 barnburner against hard-hitting and former title contender Francis Ngannou.

Dos Santos' team clarified the situation by revealing he had tested positive for the diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide in the August 10 out-of-competition test.

Despite being flagged for a violation, he’s still pro-USADA and wants MMA to be a cleaner sport. Make no mistake about though, he still doesn’t know where the substance he tested positive for came from.

Although he may not be in his prime anymore, he is still a worthy challenger in the heavyweight division as he holds wins over names such as Mark Hunt, UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic and Ben Rothwell.

In his last six bouts, he has been up and down as he has had some wins but also some losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem.

As far as an update on his future in the sport after the suspension, it was officially announced earlier this week that Dos Santos is eligible to compete immediately.

This was revealed once a third-party testing organization deemed that Dos Santos’ drug test that he failed was due to a contaminated supplement.

He was last seen inside of the world famous octagon when he suffered a first-round knockout at UFC 211 last May in Dallas, Texas.

With his status clear and free to compete once again, he has some options to select from. However, one name comes to mind and that is rising contender Alexander Volkov.

When looking at the contender’s record, it’s quite impressive. He has won four-straight fights since signing with the UFC which includes victories over names such as Stefan Struve, Fabricio Werdum, Timothy Johnson and Roy Nelson.

“I had already closed a deal to fight Ngannou before all this happened,” Dos Santos told Combate (transcript courtesy of LowKickMMA). “He could be an option, but I think he has another fight. A rematch with Overeem could be nice, but I think he has a fight, too. I also don’t think he’d take that fight.

There’s Werdum, actually there’s not, he wouldn’t take it. But I think there’s Alexander Volkov, he’s climbing the division and has no fights scheduled.

That would be a perfect match-up. I know he wants to fight for the belt, so I’ll give him that feeling of what it’s like to fight for the belt.”