Julien Leblanc vs. Nick Galanti
UFC Fight Night · October 17, 2026 · Rogers Place · Early Prelims 5:00 PM ET
The brief
- What kind of fight
- Short-notice UFC debut vs. well-rounded Canadian
- Finish likelihood
- Medium
- The line
- No line posted yet
- The stakes
- Middleweight · Early Prelims
The read
Galanti's grappling pedigree gives him a route to a finish if he can change levels, but a short-notice UFC debut against a finisher of Leblanc's caliber is a tough ask.
Leblanc's home-crowd support and well-rounded game make him the steadier bet, though his own recent loss by submission means he isn't invulnerable there either.
The matchup
This bout changed on short notice after Gilbert Urbina withdrew, bringing in UFC newcomer Nick Galanti to face a well-rounded Canadian veteran in front of a home crowd.
Galanti's submission-heavy Cage Fury Fighting Championships résumé gives him a finishing path if he can get this to the mat, while Leblanc's even split of knockouts and submissions means he is dangerous everywhere, even after a submission loss of his own in his most recent outing.
Tale of the tape
| 10-3 | Record | 8-1 |
| — | Age | 28 |
| — | Height | 6'1" |
| — | Reach | — |
| — | Stance | — |
| Canada | Country | United States |
| — | Team | Dante Rivera BJJ |
The numbers
Career UFC averages. Red bar = statistical edge.
The fighters
Julien Leblanc 10-3
Julien Leblanc is a Canadian middleweight out of Gatineau, Quebec, and a former Samourai MMA champion whose 10-3 record splits evenly between knockouts and submissions among his wins. He enters off a first-round submission loss to Robert Valentin at UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Malott in April 2026 that ended a five-fight winning streak. He fights in front of a home-country crowd against UFC newcomer Nick Galanti, who steps in on short notice.
- LRobert Valentin · SubmissionUFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Malott · April 18, 2026
Nick Galanti 8-1
Nick Galanti is a 28-year-old American middleweight who trains under Dante Rivera BJJ and won the Cage Fury Fighting Championships middleweight title before punching his UFC ticket with a 35-second knockout of Carlos Petruzzella on Dana White's Contender Series. He steps in on short notice for Gilbert Urbina, who withdrew from this matchup, and makes his UFC debut against a heavy-handed Canadian veteran in Julien Leblanc.
UFC debut — no prior UFC bouts.