UFC Vegas 90: Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis continues on the prelims with a fight in the middleweight division between promotional newcomers Dylan Budka and Cesar Almeida. Budka secured his contract after a dominant performance on the Contender Series meanwhile, Almeida secured his contract also on the Contender Series after a unanimous decision victory. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Budka-Almeida prediction and pick.

Dylan Budka (7-2) is taking this fight on about a month's notice after Josh Fremd had to withdraw due to injury. He was successful with his short-notice Contender Series appearance which helped him secure his spot on the UFC roster. At just 24 years old Budka will be looking to prove that he deserves to be in the UFC when he takes on former kickboxing champion Cesar Almeida this weekend.

Cesar Almeida (4-0) was a decorated kickboxing world champion before turning MMA fighter back in 2021. Many believed that his biggest weakness would be his ground game but his defense held up mightily in his Contender Series appearance which helped him secure his contract. Now, he will be looking to extend his unbeaten streak when he takes on short-notice replacement Dylan Budka at UFC Vegas 90.

Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of BetOnline. 

UFC Vegas 90 Odds: Dylan Budka-Cesar Almeida Odds

Dylan Budka: -145

Cesar Almeida: +125

Over 2.5 rounds: -170

Under 2.5 rounds: +140

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Why Dylan BudkaWill Win

Dylan Budka steps in for the injured Josh Fremd on about a month's notice to take on Cesar Almeida this weekend at UFC Vegas 90. He secured his contract after a dominant performance on the Contender Series, one he took on a super quick turnaround after fighting just a week prior. His performance may have not been the most eye-opening but the way he dominated against a tough opposition after just fighting a week ago gave him some slack in the eye's of Dana White and the matchmakers.

They gave him a chance to prove himself on the biggest stage and he gets to do just that when he takes on Cesar Almeida this weekend. What we've seen from Budka is relentless grappling pressure which is certainly going to come in handy against a world champion kickboxer. While Almeida did well defending takedowns in his last fight, these takedowns are going to be completely different coming from someone of Budka's caliber. It will be up to Budka to avoid the big shots coming at him from Almeida to then take down Almeida and dominate from there and if he can do that he can get his first win in his UFC debut.

Why Cesar Almeida Will Win

Cesar Almeida is better known for defeating Alex Pereira in kickboxing and was a world-champion kickboxer before taking his talents to MMA back in 2021. He was such a highly-touted prospect at age 36 that the UFC gave him a chance to prove himself on the Contender Series while being only 3-0 in MMA. In that fight proved more than worthy of joining the UFC by dominating a very good prospect in Lucas Fernando.

Now, Almeida will look to do one better and that is win his UFC debut against a fellow debutant Dylan Budka. Almeida was getting ready to take on two opponents prior to finally settling in on Budka. In his first chance of debuting, he was set to take on Christian Leroy Duncan back in November 2023 but he had to withdraw due to injury and now he was getting ready to fight Josh Fremd who had to withdraw with an injury. Those two were highly more experienced than the 24-year-old Dyland Budka and were far tougher matchups. This is going to come down to Almeida showing his much-improved takedown defense to keep this fight standing where he should knockout Budka if he can keep it there to get his first win inside the Octagon.

Final Dylan Budka-Cesar Almeida Prediction & Pick

This should be an absolute barnburner between these two middleweight prospects. Both Budka and Almeida fight at a very high pace and are looking to get their opponents out there in any way possible. The thing that stood out to me the most was Almeida's ability to keep the fight on the feet against Fernando and training at Xtreme Couture with the likes of Sean Strickland and fellow UFC Vegas 90  competitor Chris Curtis has certainly helped him progress mightily in those regards. If Almeida can have the same success defending the takedowns against Budka as he did on the Contender Series we could potentially see an emphatic knockout toward the latter portion of this fight as Almeida gets his first UFC victory.

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Final Dylan Budka-Cesar Almeida Prediction & Pick: Cesar Almeida (+125), Under 2.5 Rounds (+140)