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“I Was Just Depressed and Lost” – Muhammad Ali’s Grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh Lays Bare His Tough Situation Before Turning to MMA

Published 12/20/2023, 7:52 AM EST

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Muhammad Ali is considered by many fighters and fight fans as the greatest boxer of all time. Ali is an icon when it comes to the sport of boxing. He held an impressive record of 56- 5 record 37 wins coming in the way of knockouts. The late great Muhammad Ali passed away at the age of 74 on the 3rd of June 2016. However, that wasn’t the end of his legacy as a fighter, as it was continued by his grandsons, Nico Ali Walsh and Biaggio Ali Walsh.

Nico Ali Walsh is a professional boxer with an 8-1 boxing record, who has decided to walk the same path as Muhammad Ali. Whereas, Biaggio Ali Walsh took a slightly different route from his late grandfather. Though playing football early on in his career, his path has led him to a similar path as his grandfather, as he now trains as an MMA fighter. Biaggio holds a 6-1 amateur MMA record and is currently on a tear with a 6-fight win streak. However, this begs us to question, what led to him making a drastic change in his career?

Biaggio Ali Walsh opens up about his life before MMA

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Biaggio Ali Walsh, while he was in college, was considered to be an excellent football player. However, Walsh failed to secure a spot in the NFL. With no responsibility as an athlete to hold him down, Walsh turned to a life of alcohol and drugs, embracing the nightlife of Las Vegas.

Walsh, when he was playing football in college, never wanted to turn pro. He stated, “I don’t know what it was. There was just something in my heart that didn’t want to go pro and when I was done with football, I was just depressed and lost.”

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Fortunately for the young athlete, he found his calling in MMA which helped Ali Walsh to overcome his demons. He stated, “I found MMA it gave me something to look forward to. I would go to the gym and record my sparring, I’d want to improve on the sparring and in a sense I think this sport changed my life in a way.”

Biaggio Ali Walsh started training in MMA quite late in his life, at the age of 22. But, the fighter seems to be a natural talent at the sport, especially with his work ethic, Biaggio has made a huge splash in the MMA world. He trains at Xtreme Couture and has made massive strides in his skills as a fighter.

Biaggio Ali Walsh’s amateur MMA journey

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The 5’10 lightweight, Biaggio Ali Walsh, made his amateur debut on the 3rd of June 2022, against Devin Rothwell at Fusion Fight league, where he lost his debut match via rear naked choke in the second round of the contest. However, this seemed to start a fire inside of Walsh as he would go on to finish his next opponent, Bradley Seaver in the second round at Crown fighting championship.

The impressive win led to his signing with the PFL as an amateur lightweight. Biaggio Ali-Walsh has won all 5 of his fights in the PFL, against the likes of Tom Graesser, Isaiah Figueroa, Travell Miller, Ed Davis, and most recently Joel Galarza Lopez. With impressive finishes over all the fighters. Ali-Walsh, just like his grandfather, seems to have impressive boxing. The lightweight boasts a 100% finishing rate, all coming by way of punches. Now, standing with an amateur MMA record of 6-1.

Also read: Meet Sora Rakhmonova, Sister of UFC Star Shavkat: Age, Record, MMA Career and All We Know About Her

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To know more about Muhammad Ali’s unmatched legacy, tune in to the ES FanCast, LIVE this Friday at 2:30 PM ET. We sit down with Biaggio Ali-Walsh, the man responsible for taking his grandfather Muhammad Ali’s legacy to MMA

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Written by:

Imtikokba Jamir

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One take at a time

As someone who's spent her childhood experiencing combat sports firsthand, I have always been in awe of the action in the cage. Post a Degree with Honors in Literature, I quickly realised my penmanship needed some gloves. So here I am , Imtikokba Jamir, a pro writer for UFC at EssentiallySports.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen