Contender Series Week 5: Bruno Lopes vs. Brendson Ribeiro continues with a bout in the middleweight division between Chad Hanekom and Dylan Budka. Hanekom has won three fights in a row meanwhile, Budka is coming off a first-round submission coming into his debut on the Contender Series. That said, check out our UFC odds series for our Hanekom-Budka prediction and pick.

Chad Hanekom (10-2) is a middleweight prospect fighting out of South Africa who is coming off the knockout of the year in his last fight for Brave CF. He is coming off three straight wins with two of those wins coming by knockout as he comes into the biggest fight of his career when he takes on Dylan Budka on this week's episode of the Contender Series.

Dylan Budka (6-2) took this fight on a week's notice when Chad Hanekom's original opponent Cam Rowston had to withdraw from the bout. Budka is coming off a first-round rear-naked choke win just about a week ago at heavyweight as he comes into this huge opportunity. Budka would be looking to put on an impressive performance for Dana White and the UFC brass when he takes on Chad Hanekom on Tuesday night.

Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

Contender Series Week 5 Odds: Chad Hanekom-Dylan Budka Odds

Chad Hanekom: -136

Dylan Budka: +108

How to Watch Chad Hanekom vs. Dylan Budka

TV: ESPN+

Stream: ESPN+

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT

Why Chad Hanekom Will Win

Chad Hanekom will be looking to become the next South African to be signed to the UFC when steps into the cage this Tuesday night on the Contender Series. He was originally slated to face off against Australian fighter Cam Rowston but Rowston had to withdraw from the bout and Hanekom will face off against Dylan Budka who must recently fought just a little over a week ago.

Hanekom is certainly the best fighter that Budka has faced in his career and he gets to have a leg up in the fact that he will be fresh and have a full camp for this fight. He also has a big size advantage over Budka and he does a great job at utilizing his height and reach advantages in his matchups. Budka will be looking to come into this matchup and utilize his wrestling and heavy ground and pound to get the win but that will be easier said than done against the bigger Hanekom. If Hanekom can keep this fight standing and at his range, he can land one of his nasty elbows for another vicious knockout victory.

Why Dylan Budka Will Win

Dylan Budka will be stepping in on short notice in place of Cam Rowston after just winning about at heavyweight where he weighed in at 207.5 lbs just a little over a week ago to face off against South Africa's Chad Hanekom. Budka has spent most of his time fighting for the Legacy Fighting Alliance where he went 3-1 as a professional with his lone loss being a close split decision against Azamat Bekoev for the vacant LFA Middleweight Championship.

Budka has fought in three weight classes over the course of his career, fighting at heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight. With that said, the best work of his has been done at middleweight. He may not be the biggest middleweight contender out there, as it is evident in the size difference against Hanekom, but he makes up for his size with his will and tenacity. Budka also has some great wrestling and grappling abilities that he will need to put to work to where he can land some heavy ground and pound and potentially get Hanekom out of there within two rounds.

Final Chad Hanekom-Dylan Budka & Pick

This should be a great scrap between the South African Chad Hanekom and Ohio's Dyland Budka. Hanekom is coming off of one of the most vicious elbow knockouts that you will see at Brave CF 66 against In Jae La. That ended up being Brave CF's 2022 knockout of the year which it most definitely deserved. Budka on the other hand was originally slated to face off against 7-8 Robert Gidron in his last fight but he had to withdraw from the bout and he ultimately fought 2-4 Dan Stevenson at heavyweight and got the first-round submission finish.

If we take a look at who is more UFC-ready right now, it would most certainly be Chad Hanekom just by the strength of schedule and the way he has been finishing his opponents but that doesn't mean Budka can't come in and surprise us all. While I do think Budka will be able to land some big slams and takedowns I don't expect him to control Hanekom on the mat and then eventually get put away emphatically as he fades down the stretch.

Final Chad Hanekom-Dylan Budka & Pick: Chad Hanekom (-136)