Contender Series Week 1: Cesar Almeida vs. Lucas Fernando continues with a fight in the lightweight division between Tom Nolan and Bogdan Grad. Nolan is undefeated riding five straight wins meanwhile, Grad is coming off five consecutive wins into his shot on the Contender Series. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Nolan-Grad prediction and pick.

Tom Nolan (5-0) is an undefeated prospect fighting out Australia who has fought the majority of his time for the Eternal MMA promotion over in Australia. He has finished three consecutive fights by knockout and his striking arsenal will be on full display when he takes the trip to the States to take on his toughest competitor to date on the biggest stage on Tuesday night's Contender Series.

Bogdan Grad (11-1) is riding a five-fight winning streak with four of those wins coming inside the distance. He fights out of his native Austria on the regional scene. Grad will be looking to be the only Austrian-born fighter in the UFC when he takes on Tom Nolan on Tuesday night's Contender Series.

Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

Contender Series Week 1: Tom Nolan-Bogdan Grad Odds

Tom Nolan: -144

Bogdan Grad: +122

How to Watch Tom Nolan vs. Bogdan Grad

TV: ESPN+

Stream: ESPN+

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET/ 4:00 p.m. PT

Why Tom Nolan Will Win

Tom Nolan is a highly touted lightweight prospect fighting out of Australia. He is exceptionally tall and long for the lightweight division standing at 6'3″ with a 76″ reach which is unheard of at 155 lbs. Nolan utilizes his height and reach advantage to full effect with his striking abilities. He mixes his strikes up well between high-low and low-high combinations and usually ends his combinations with leg kicks.

He takes on another dangerous lightweight prospect in Bogdan Grad that also does most of his best work on the feet. If this fight does remain on the feet Nolan should have the slight advantage due to his intangibles that are had match. With that said, Nolan is still green and has some ways to go to perfect his craft but his intangibles and power can possibly get him through Grad and a shot in the UFC.

Why Bogdan Grad Will Win

Bogdan Grad comes into this matchup riding a five-fight winning streak with four of those five wins coming inside the distance. He has exceptional power in all of his limbs with seven of his 11 wins coming by knockout. Grad even had a spinning heel kick knockout just two fights ago showing the diversity of attacks that he possesses on the feet. He uses a ton of spinning attacks which could come in handy to keep Nolan guessing in this matchup.

Grad will need to utilize a ton of calf kicks to damage the lead leg of Nolan which in turn will help get on the inside of the reach of Nolan. From there Grad is the better grappler and can take this fight to the mat where he can maintain top control and potentially end the fight there. He has more ways to win this fight meanwhile Nolan will be looking to keep this fight at his preferred range on the feet. If Grad can mix things up and make Nolan, who's still quite green, work for positions he can just outwork him to a decision win.

Final Tom Nolan-Bogdan Grad Prediction & Pick

This should be a very exciting lightweight matchup. Nolan does exceptional work using all of his limbs when he is on the feet striking at his preferred range. He has nasty knees and elbows if the fight does end up in the clinch and at distance has ripping body and leg kicks to go along with a great jab-straight combination. Nolan will need to keep Grad at the end of his strikes most considerably because he is the smaller man by 6″.

Grad will need to navigate through that height and reach the advantage that Nolan possesses and he can do so by hammering the lead leg of Nolan. Hindering his movement will make Nolan a stationary target and from there Grad can land his powerful strikes as well as land some much-needed takedown and top control. If he is unable to get on the inside of the reach of Nolan it's going to be a long night for him and might even get knocked out. Ultimately, Grad looks good early on and landed a takedown or two with some top control but Nolan takes control after round one and finishing Grad in the latter portion of the fight.

Final Tom Nolan-Bogdan Grad Prediction & Pick: Tom Nolan (-144)