A recent quick winner on DWCS will get his first shot in the UFC perhaps quicker than he expected.
With Gilbert Urbina (8-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) out of his upcoming middleweight fight against Julien Leblanc (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the UFC's Fight Night event in Canada later this month, Nicholas Galanti (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has answered the call for the first fight on his deal.
UFC officials announced the change Thursday, but didn't give a reason for Urbina's removal from the fight. UFC Fight Night 291 (Paramount+) takes place Oct. 17 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Galanti fought on this season's third episode of DWCS and needed just 35 seconds to knock out Carlos Petruzzella (15-2) at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Galanti tried for an early takedown, and when it wasn't there, he instead landed a huge right hand and big follow-up shots to get the job done.
He said afterward he's "headed in the right direction" with the win, which ensured him a contract. And now he's got that first fight booked. The 28-year-old from New Jersey has a six-fight winning streak and entered DWCS as the middleweight champion for East Coast regional MMA staple CFFC.
With the change, the UFC Edmonton lineup now includes:
- Joaquin Buckley vs. Mike Malott
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Kyle Daukaus
- Chelsea Chandler vs. Melissa Croden
- Tanner Boser vs. Jhonata Diniz
- Katlyn Cerminara vs. opponent TBA
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Timmy Cuamba vs. Louis Jourdain
- Nate Landwehr vs. Mandel Nallo
- Nicholas Galanti vs. Julien Leblanc
- Javad Mahjoub vs. Louie Sutherland
- Chad Anheliger vs. Steven Koslow
- Cody Chovancek vs. SuYoung You
- Kyle Nelson vs. Chris Perez
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Recent quick DWCS winner books short-notice debut for UFC Edmonton