On its face, the most intriguing thing about the UFC 150 co-main event between Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Melvin Guillard may be the fact that the two lightweights used to train together at Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico, a team known for its insistence that teammates not fight one another. The fact that Guillard has joined the "Blackzilians" - the new home of Rashad Evans after his much publicized departure from Jackson's - could add to the intrigue. However, "The Young Assassin" has not lashed out at his old team or coach the way Evans did upon his departure.
Instead, the most noteworthy aspect of this battle - in addition to its status an intriguing contender for "Fight of the Night," - is what it could do for the winner.
The UFC's lightweight division is hard to figure out right now. We know that Frankie Edgar gets a shot to reclaim his UFC Lightweight Championship from Ben Henderson in the main event on Saturday night in Denver, and we know that Nate Diaz is waiting in the wings for a shot at the winner. Beyond, that, though, it's a mess, with the likes of Gray Maynard and Anthony Pettis angling for shots at the title.
And then, there's Cerrone and Guillard. The homestanding "Cowboy" has just four losses in his MMA career. Of those, two are to Henderson - the latter a bit more than two years ago - and one to Diaz. If Cerrone can get past his former training partner, he'd have a great case to at least be matched up with Pettis or Maynard in a title eliminator.
As for Guillard, "The Young Assassin" has struggled of late with losses to Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller, and he's got some work to do to get back in title contention (where he appeared to be headed before Lauzon stopped his five-fight win streak). That said, however, becoming just the fourth fighter to beat Cerrone would put him in elite company (Diaz, Henderson and Jamie Varner), and could put him within a fight or two of the top contender's spot.
Of course, given Edgar's recent history, it's entirely possible that Saturday's title fight could end in a controversial decision - or worse, a draw - and set things back even further. If that doesn't happen, though, the winner of Saturday's co-main event is likely to take a giant step towards a title shot.