Weightclass: Middleweight
Record: 5-1
Age: 27
Height: 6’1”
Born in: US
Training out of: Dante Rivera BJJ
Combined opponents’ record (at the time they fought): 21-13
Key wins: N/A
A product of Dante Rivera BJJ, New Jersey’s Nick Galanti has impressively rebounded from the first loss of his professional MMA career with three-straight wins via stoppage this year.
Six amateur fights saw Galanti go 4-2 and win the Cage Fury FC amateur middleweight title before he lost it in his final amateur bout at CFFC 118 in 2023. The 27-year-old made his professional debut later that year and submitted fellow debutant Jahrael Cromartie with a triangle choke in the first round.
Galanti took a decision over the formerly undefeated Russ Korbul the following April but came up short in his next outing against Brandon Holmes. He returned to the win column last February at CFFC 139 with the first of what ended up being back-to-back finishes by guillotine choke after he also submitted Shane Sobnoskyi in May. In his most recent fight, he flattened Ty Gwerder out and stopped him with punches late in their co-main event bout at CFFC 145.
As showcased during his current win streak, Galanti is at his best when he can bring fights to the ground. He times his double leg shots well and will grab ahold of a single leg if an initial takedown attempt fails, and he also excels at using a rear body lock to drag opponents away from the cage if he can get them to their knees.
Galanti does an excellent job of quickly moving to an opponent’s back, where he’ll occasionally look to slide around into mount while also hunting for rear naked chokes. He’s also quick to jump for guillotines during scrambles or when an opponent tries a takedown of their own, and off his back, he’s constantly looking for opportunities to throw his legs up for submission attempts.
A southpaw, most of Galanti’s striking is centered around closing the distance to an opponent or distracting them so that he’s able to dive in for a takedown attempt. The 27-year-old utilizes his jab and an occasional 1-2 along with a lead hook, and along with regular low kicks, he’ll also throw up some high kicks and has found particular success with a nice step-up body kick with his lead leg.
Galanti will immediately start throwing knees to the body in the clinch and does a good job of trying to land shots on the break, and in several of his fights, he’s even run in for some wild flying knee attempts that helped back opponents to the fence so that he was able to try and bring them to the mat.
The loss to Holmes really highlighted how much Galanti can struggle if he isn’t able to find success with his takedowns, but over his last few fights, he’s done a better job of moving more fluidly between striking and grappling to create more effective openings for bringing things to the mat. It also seems like Dante Rivera has helped to encourage a bit more aggression and striking output from him as of late, which was an issue for him during some of his earlier pro bouts.
He’s incredibly dangerous on the ground, and if his striking continues to develop, then Galanti is an interesting prospect to keep an eye on, especially in one of MMA’s typically less talent-rich divisions like middleweight.