Alright, so I decided to spend some time today looking into this Chad Hanekom vs Dylan Budka matchup. It popped up and I thought, okay, let’s break this down a bit, see what’s what.
First thing I did was just pull up whatever I could find on Hanekom. I remember seeing him fight before, solid guy. So I rewatched some clips, tried to get a fresh look at his style.
Looking at Hanekom
What sticks out with Hanekom, for me anyway, is his ground game. Seems pretty comfortable there, strong top control usually. He’s not afraid to grind it out. I spent a while just watching how he sets up takedowns, how he controls position once he gets it there.
- Seems physically strong in the clinch.
- Doesn’t rush things too much on the ground.
- His striking is okay, serves its purpose to set up the grappling sometimes.
Then I switched gears to Dylan Budka. Honestly, I wasn’t as familiar with him going into this. Had to do a bit more digging to find decent footage.
Checking out Budka
Finding stuff on Budka took a little longer. Watched what I could find, mostly highlights and maybe one or two full rounds from different bouts. He seems like he enjoys the stand-up part more? Maybe a bit more power in his hands compared to Hanekom, perhaps. Looks like he throws with intention.
- Seems to have decent movement on the feet.
- Willing to exchange strikes.
- Hard to get a full read on his defensive grappling just from the clips I saw. That was the big question mark for me.
Putting it Together
So after watching bits and pieces of both guys, I started thinking about how they’d actually match up against each other. That’s always the interesting part, right? Trying to picture the clash of styles.
It felt like a classic grappler vs striker kind of situation, maybe? Hanekom probably wanting it on the mat, Budka trying to keep it standing where he might feel he has the edge. I kept thinking about the distance control. Could Budka keep Hanekom away? Could Hanekom close the distance without eating too much damage?
I spent a good chunk of time just replaying moments in my head, thinking about transitions. Like, how would Hanekom react if Budka stuffed the first takedown? How would Budka handle being pressured against the fence?
It’s never simple, is it? You watch the tape, you see tendencies, but fights are chaotic. One good shot can change everything, or one missed takedown.
Ended up spending maybe an hour and a half just going back and forth, watching clips, pausing, thinking. It’s just my process, you know? Try to look at it from different angles. Didn’t come away with some rock-solid prediction or anything, more just a better feel for both guys and the questions the fight poses. It was a decent practice session, breaking down the styles.
