Contender Series 2026 Episode 3 Breakdown and Predictions

Shawn Bitter- Galanti shouldn’t have even won his last fight, and Petruzzella just stinks. After rewatching Galanti’s fight with Austin Clayton, I don’t know what the judges were watching. Clayton clearly won the fight, but Galanti got the nod in a suspect decision.

Galanti is talented despite his last fight. He’s not much of a striker, but he’s a good wrestler with slick grappling. That’s no big surprise, given that he trains at Dante Rivera BJJ. His striking just needs work, as it’s mainly used to close the distance, although it’s serviceable in the clinch. At least early on, Galanti is a big threat, but he’ll fight to the bell.

Petruzzella does have an impressive record and some nice accolades. He’s a former SFH double champ who has fought in nine title fights. It’s been quite clear that the matchmakers hardly watch tape on these guys at all. If they did, Galanti wouldn’t be getting this fight off a robbery, and they’d know Petruzzella is very low level. Petruzzella has never gone to a decision, and I get that’s why he’d look good before watching any tape. He’s a BJJ guy with bad wrestling, and his striking is clunky. He’s too slow and has the athleticism of a wet paper towel.

Galanti could outstrike Petruzzella, but he’ll slice through him when he decides to shoot. Galanti may not deserve this opportunity, but he’s a good fighter, and I value him at -800.

Trusting someone to grapple on the Contender Series is scary, but I got Galanti either way. Galanti by first-round submission is my pick.

Cedric Dumas– This fight is the epitome of the kind of matchmaking the UFC has leaned on more and more in recent years. On paper, it looks great: a CFFC champion against a Latin American fighter sitting on 15 professional wins, all but one ending inside the distance. Dig a little deeper, though, and the picture gets much uglier.

Galanti didn’t exactly win his last fight. The judges bailed him out against Austin Clayton, handing him both the CFFC title and, ultimately, this Contender Series opportunity. Justice for Clayton.

That said, Galanti is far from a fraud. He’s a well-rounded fighter with strong BJJ and solid wrestling, and I think he could be a perfectly serviceable addition to the UFC middleweight division.

On the other side, Petruzzella is the walking definition of South American can-crushing. His record is padded with finishes over journeymen and regional opponents, and while the finishes look good on paper, there isn’t much substance behind the résumé. His biggest weapon is his BJJ, but he’s walking into a fight with another strong grappler who should be capable of neutralizing that advantage.

I expect Galanti to keep things clean, stay disciplined, and do enough across three rounds to get his hand raised. Honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if this turns into a kickboxing match where neither man can find the kind of opening they need for a finish.

Pick: Galanti by DEC.

Nicholas Holt- This matchup is quite infuriating. I get that it’s middleweight and arguably the most inept division for prospects, but this is just lousy matchmaking. If you watched Nick Galanti’s last fight, he shouldn’t have even earned an extra round against Austin Clayton, let alone come out victorious. Talk about some home cooking in Atlantic City… but that’s besides the point. It really wasn’t all that exciting of a fight, either. So for Mick Maynard to come out of that night thinking Galanti deserved an opportunity, I find that pretty mind-boggling.

If I quiet down about that one performance and review Galanti’s tape as a whole, I’d say the New Jersey native is a fine fighter. It’s not like it’s his fault he won. He doesn’t have much of a striking game, so he’s not someone who’s going to come out and impress with his hands, but when the fight hits the mat, it’s Galanti’s world. His pressure wrestling and jiu-jitsu are extremely refined, and he became a notorious threat after riding a streak of three first-round submission wins before running into Clayton. I hope we see some major improvement on the feet in this matchup, but overall, if a few things are tweaked, Nick Galanti could muscle his way to a few wins in the UFC.

On the other side is Carlos “Tito” Petruzzella, who’s riding back-to-back victories after returning to Samurai Fight House. Personally, I thought we’d seen the last of “Tito” after he was knocked out in the first round by Joseliton Santos at LFA 209. I felt that was a decent litmus test, and Petruzzella didn’t pass. For Petruzzella’s sake, I’d love to tell you that Santos went on to dominate his competition and that he simply ran into an absolute beast, but no. Santos was mauled in his next fight in his ACA debut.

Apparently, none of that matters to Mick Maynard, and all Petruzzella had to do was crush two cans in Argentina to get back on his radar. Frustrating stuff, but whatever, I digress. Getting down to the nitty-gritty, you can call Petruzzella somewhat of a ground specialist, as his best weapon is his jiu-jitsu. After watching the tape, though, his lack of technique and athleticism make him a very limited fighter. His striking game is virtually nonexistent, and he’ll need to get Galanti to the ground if he wants to have any real success.

Personally, I don’t see that happening. Galanti is too strong of a wrestler for Petruzzella to manhandle, and the Argentinian doesn’t have enough in his back pocket should his submission opportunities dry up. I think Petruzzella is going to enter the octagon with some unwarranted confidence and unsuccessfully chase the early finish against Galanti. Ultimately, I believe Petruzzella will come out looking really bad in the second round, with Nick Galanti dragging him into his world and securing a ground-and-pound finish.

Pick: Galanti by Round 2 KO/TKO

Chase Gurotsky- Carlos Petruzzella finally gets the DWCS call and truly has a challenge in front of him with Nick Galanti being his opponent. Petruzzella went 13-0 to start his career but lost via KO last May. Since then, he has racked up two more finishes, adding to his 100% finish rate. Fifteen finishes is impressive, but fifteen finishes in just 15 wins is amazing. While the finish rate is impressive, the level of competition isn’t the best; for example, his last two opponents had a combined record of 26-26. There are some good wins sprinkled in there, but none that really scream next-level skill; however, that doesn’t change the fact he deserves the shot.

Nick Galanti at 7-1 is on a five-win streak, 4 of those wins coming by finish. He lost a decision to Brandon Holmes, and it was only by decision, which shows that Galanti has never been finished and has the stamina to stay alive. All of Galanti’s fights have been for CFFC, and he has fought tough guys the whole way, leading me to believe this should be a relatively easy fight for Nick. Petruzzella has a puncher’s chance, but I do think that suffocating style that Galanti has will quickly wear down the Argentine. Petruzzella has never gone the distance, and while I do think there is a chance this fight will be his first, I do think Galanti gets it done most likely in round 2, maybe 3.

Pick: Galanti Via 2nd Round Sub 

Xavi Ryder– Unfortunately, the theme of week three is bad fighters, undeserving fighters, and sometimes a mix of both. That starts here with this first matchup. Nick Galanti is a solid fighter, but I’m not sure Austin Clayton deserved to lose his undefeated record in their fight earlier this year. Galanti isn’t the best on the feet, but he uses his striking to close distance and get in on a takedown. His wrestling is good, and once the fight hits the mat, he has a variety of ways to finish fights. Galanti scored his first ground-and-pound finish last year against Ty Gwerder, but usually opts for the submission.

His opponent for Tuesday night will be the Samurai Fight House middleweight champion, Carlos Petruzzella. Petruzzella also held the welterweight title but hasn’t fought in the weight class since late 2024. He has never been in a fight that has gone to decision and only has one loss on his record. However, his tapology is quite deceiving, and I don’t believe he can compete with high-level opponents. During his undefeated Samurai Fight House run, he didn’t fight any guys that could really give him trouble. He got the call to fight in LFA in 2025 and got smoked by his first real opponent inside a round. Petruzzella isn’t particularly dangerous on the feet, and his wrestling isn’t great. On the ground, he’s shown a good BJJ game against the low-level guys he’s been fighting, but I don’t think he will cause Galanti any trouble.

Pick: Galanti via Round 2 Submission

Drew Beaupre– I was selfishly happy to see Galanti get his hand raised in his CFFC title fight with Austin Clayton given that he’s on my Prospect Grand Prix squad, but like seemingly everyone else (other than the judges that night) I thought Clayton pretty clearly won that fight.

Petruzzella was always going to get a DWCS call at some point given his record and 100% finishing rate, but it’s no secret that he hasn’t exactly been facing stellar competition for most of his run with Samurai Fight House. He could definitely catch Galanti on the feet since the American’s striking is still a work in progress, but I don’t think he’s going to waste much time before bringing this to the ground.

Petruzzella will likely hit the mat with relative ease, giving Galanti plenty of time to showcase his grappling and either find a submission or finish things with ground and pound. (Pick: Galanti)

Cangrejo Ruiz- Petruzzella is a limited welterweight who will be undersized, while Galanti is a credentialed grappler. Galanti should have no issues taking the fight to the ground and finding the early submission.

Prediction is Galanti by R1 Submission.

Benjamin Keith- I go into this fight thinking that it should be fairly straightforward; Galanti should win. But then I think back to week 2 of the contenders series, and note that upsets are a lot easier at higher weight classes, and I throw my hands up. Nothing is ever for sure.

Petruzzella is a violent man, a finisher, but a can crusher. He has faced one singular legitimate prospect in his career, and lost by first-round TKO. Other than that, he is 15-1 with the vast majority of his wins coming in Argentinian-based promotion Samurai Fight House. There is something to be said for the fact that he has won every fight he was supposed to win; it’s a sign of competence if nothing else. He has solid speed for a middleweight, and moves well on the ground. His dominant top game is just as much due to his opponents’ incompetence as it is his grappling prowess, but he is comfortable on the ground and hunts submissions relentlessly.

His striking is reckless; he doesn’t have tremendous power but can overwhelm unprepared opponents. He blitzes in a way that will get him chinned badly one day. He loves a spinning kick and a flying knee that could land him a lucky knockout one day, but he doesn’t have any tools that I would grade especially well.

Galanti has fought his entire career in CFFC, the US-based promotion. He is 7-1 as a professional after going 4-2 as an amateur, and is the current CFFC middleweight champion. He is a more legitimate grappler than his opponent, getting the fight to the ground with pressure and well-timed level changes. Like Petruzzella, he hunts submissions well. Unlike Petruzzella, he is finding said submissions against guys that have actually trained Jiu Jitsu.

Galanti has shown solid growth on the feet in the past couple of years, going from desperate to get it to the ground, to comfortable wherever the fight takes him. As a prospect, he reminds me a bit of Andre Petroski with some Michael Chiesa, although he is a much more natural athlete than either of them. I wish he showed a little more violence on the ground; his submissions would come easier if he loosened his opponents up with elbows and hammerfists. He, however, is a talented grappler in a division that is susceptible to that, so I think his ceiling remains fairly high.

As I prefaced, anything can happen, but I think the more technically sound fighter gets it done early against the erratic blitzer.

Prediction: Galanti by 1st round submission.