Muhammad Ali's Grandson Shares How He Fell In Love With MMA

For Biaggio Ali Walsh, the likely expectation for him was to pursue a career in boxing. After all, it runs in the family.

His grandfather was none other than boxing legend Muhammad Ali, and one of his aunts, Laila, was also an undefeated world champion in boxing.

Plus, his younger brother Nico is currently 7-0 in the sport fondly referred to as "The Sweet Science," with five knockouts to his name.

True enough, Biaggio has decided to pursue a career in combat sports, but just not inside the boxing ring.

Instead, the 24-year-old has taken his talents to the mixed martial arts (MMA) cage.

"I only trained MMA to stay in shape because I didn't want to get overweight, and I was getting better at it," Biaggio told Bleacher Report. "I started recording my sparring and I was always looking forward to going to the gym and getting better at the stuff that I wanted to improve. I fell in love with it."

Biaggio fell in love with the sport so much that he decided to compete.

He made his amateur debut earlier this year, losing to Devin Rothwell by second-round submission.

Two months later, he bounced back by scoring a first-round knockout over Bradley Seaver.

With a 1-1 amateur record, Biaggio took a massive step and signed an amateur deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), an American MMA promotion founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018 following the acquisition and restructuring of the now-defunct World Series of Fighting.

He's set to make his debut at the organization's final event for the season—the 2022 PFL World Championship—on Friday, November 25th at the Hulu Theater of the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York.

While he will be debuting as an amateur, Biaggio is expected to turn pro and compete under the PFL banner by next year.

Turning pro, however, is something that Biaggio isn't looking to rush into.

"I'm actually going to turn pro whenever I feel like I'm ready to turn pro," Biaggio said. "I don't want to feel like I'm rushed, especially in a sport like MMA. You want to take your time. You don't want to be rushed. I personally think that if I stay on the same path I'm on right now and I keep getting better and better, I think by summer to fall next year I could be ready to turn pro."

"I don't know, but in the meantime, I'm just only focused on getting experience and winning."

Biaggio finds himself in a unique but enviable position, especially for aspiring fighters like him looking for a big break.

Getting to ply his trade on such a big stage so early in his career is definitely an experience booster for the former collegiate football standout.

Truth be told, Biaggio still has a long way to go before he can be labeled as a star.

For him, getting into the sport is about testing himself and answering some questions.

"I don't want to be 35 and think, 'Oh, if I really tried MMA, would I have been good?' I don't want to have these questions, so I just said, 'You know what? I don't think that I'm too old. I'm going to just go at it,'" he stated.

Biaggio meets Tom Graesser in the opening bout of the 2022 PFL World Championship this Friday.