Nick Galanti needed 86 seconds to bank his first UFC win. The Contender Series signee submitted Canadian middleweight Julien Leblanc at 1:26 of Round 1 on Saturday at UFC Edmonton, getting the tap with a face crank after taking Leblanc’s back.
It happened so fast that the early write-ups couldn’t agree on what it was. The official result, posted by UFC News on X and matched by MMA Junkie, lists it as a face crank. Cageside Press scored it a rear-naked choke, and MMA Mania called it a neck crank. Go with the official ruling. Galanti had the choke threatened, apparently decided he wasn’t in the mood to wait on it, and cranked the head until Leblanc tapped.
The setup was just as clean. Galanti opened with a body kick, according to Cageside Press, then changed levels and put Leblanc on the mat against the cage within seconds. He stood over the guard, threw the legs to the side and walked straight into the back. Leblanc never got anything going, and the hometown crowd barely had time to find its seats.
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How They Got Here
Both men came in chasing a first UFC win, which is exactly how the UFC billed the fight on X before the cage door shut.
Galanti, a New Jersey native with a grappling-heavy reputation, earned his contract on the Contender Series in August with a quick knockout of Carlos Petruzzella. MMA Mania noted he walked in as a massive favorite. The UFC on Paramount+ account also framed this as a short-notice booking for him, captioning the highlight “Short notice, no problem.” Guys who take the late call and then do this get extra credit from me, and he collected all of it.
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Leblanc falls to 0-2 in the Octagon. He lost his debut to Robert Valentin in April, and this second loss came in front of a Canadian crowd that badly wanted someone to cheer for. It was that kind of day for the locals. Spinnin Backfist pointed out on X that Canadian fighters were 0-5 on the card at that point, and every one of them had been finished.
Quick Take
The knockout got Galanti the contract. The grappling got him the first win. Two finishes by two completely different routes in two months is the kind of résumé line matchmakers like, and the way he skipped the choke and cranked the face anyway tells you he’s a finisher who doesn’t care much about style points. Leblanc was a fair test for a debut, and Galanti passed it before the first minute and a half was up. Next time, put a 185er in front of him who can actually stop a takedown, because nobody has made him work on the mat yet.
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