Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) – Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, is making a name for himself in the world of mixed martial arts, demonstrating his fighting prowess with an impressive second-round knockout of Joel Lopez.
Ali Walsh is currently pursuing a professional career in MMA with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and is set to compete again on Friday. While his grandfather was known for his “bombastic rhetoric” and being “The Greatest of All Time” in boxing, Biaggio is charting a more measured course in MMA, focusing on step-by-step development rather than trying to emulate his iconic relative’s persona.
“I got into this sport just wanting to see how far I could go with it,” Ali Walsh told Sky Sports. He expressed his appreciation for the multi-disciplinary nature of MMA, stating, “So many different martial arts play a part in a fight and I just loved the idea that a fight’s a fight, you use whatever martial art works best for you.”
His journey in the sport began with a challenging debut, a “humbling defeat” in Montana against a “big bald guy” in the Fusion Fight League. Despite dropping his opponent twice, Ali Walsh recalled the tough fight where he “ended up gassing out and he ended up choking me out by taking me down and grabbing my neck.” He humorously noted the key lesson learned: “Maybe you should breathe when you fight.”
However, this initial setback only fueled his determination. “If anything that made me want to fight even more,” he asserted. “It was a great experience and I took a lot out of it and that was my first fight.”
Muhammad Ali passed away in 2016, before Biaggio began his own fighting career. Despite not being able to ask his grandfather specific questions about fighting now, Ali Walsh cherishes the advice his grandfather once gave his brother: “Eat healthy, do some roadwork,” and regarding what makes a fighter: “‘Moving and dancing. That makes a fighter.'”
Biaggio Ali Walsh is clearly focused on building his own legacy in MMA, rather than simply replicating his legendary grandfather’s footsteps.
