I just finished watching the Countdown to UFC 99 show, and the most fascinating part to me was how heavily they focused on the Anderson Silva factor at UFC 99. They briefly explored the roots of the feud between Wanderlei and Anderson, and spent a lot of time building up a future fight between the two if Wanderlei wins. Dana White said the following on the Spike special:
If Wanderlei Silva beats Rich Franklin in this fight, obviously he's not going to be too happy about Anderson training Rich to beat him...and if Anderson Silva comes out of his fight with Forrest and he doesn't get banged up and can jumpright back in, we could see a Wanderlei Silva-Anderson Silva fight in the very near future.
This suggests to me that if Wanderlei knocks Rich out this weekend, they are willing to leapfrog him over Maia and Bisping and into title contention. They are in a bit of a bind this fall without main events to fill shows, and they may pull the trigger on this one sooner rather than later if they have the opportunity.