'I'm Muhammad Ali's grandson - I feel the pressure but have a great opportunity'

Daily Mirror

3 days ago

Biaggio Ali Walsh is set to fight Ronnie Gibbs in the PFL on Friday night, and the mixed martial artist has spoken about the pressure that he feels in the fight game given he is the grandson of Muhammad Ali
Biaggio Ali Walsh has explained that he feels the pressure of being the grandson of Muhammad Ali everytime he steps into the cage. A man who needs no introduction whatsoever, Ali is considered to be the greatest boxer of all time.
A three-time world heavyweight champion who retired with a record of 56-5 in 1981, the People's Champ shared the ring with - and got the better of - some of boxing's biggest names during his heyday. His incredible speed, devastating precision and calculated footwork saw him get his hand raised over the likes of Leon Spinks, George Foreman, Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier, while his unique showboating made him look like nobody was ever on his level.
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And to a certain extent, Walsh has been showing many of his grandfather's traits in the world of mixed martial arts. The 26-year-old, who trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Nevada alongside the likes of Sean Strickland, Dan Ige, Manel Kape and Magomed Ankalaev, began plying his trade as an amateur in 2022.
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However, his journey to the elite level of the sport hasn't been without its setbacks. Walsh lost his first amateur bout to Devin Rothwell via a second-round rear-naked choke, and he believes that the hype surrounding his name took a huge hit at the time as a result. However, the Professional Fighters League saw things differently, believing in the star when nobody else would give him an opportunity.
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Fighting, Walsh said: "I love the PFL. You know, it's crazy, the PFL has given me a shot when I thought nobody believed in me. I heard of the PFL coming to contact me when I lost my first amateur fight.
"So I was 0-1 as an amateur, and then the PFL hit up my dad. They were like, 'Your son's got potential, man.' And I'm like, 'What?' So, yeah, my hat goes off to the PFL, man.
"They do everything right. They treat their fighters great. They believed in me at a time where I didn't even believe in myself. So all credit to them, man."
Walsh picked up a first-round knockout over Bradley Seaver in his next fight at Crown Fighting Championship, before he signed with the PFL still as an amateur - going on a six-fight streak before turning pro in last year. Fast forward to 2025, and Walsh currently holds an undefeated record of 2-0 with wins over Emmanuel Palacio and Brian Stapleton in February and August 2024 respectively.
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While Walsh may seem cool, calm and collected from the outside looking in, he admitted that he still feels the pressure of his grandfather's legacy every time he steps into the cage. He added: "I feel it. I feel it all the time. I felt it when I was a kid. I felt it my whole life, really. Muhammad Ali, that's one of the biggest names in sports. And yeah, I feel it."
However, rather than crumbling under the heavy weight of expectations, Walsh explained that he utilises it as a source of motivation, adding: "I feel like that pressure is going to bring out the best version of myself. And yeah, I mean, at the end of the day there was that pressure.
"But I still think that in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. I like to take that pressure. I like to give my opponents that pressure. I like them to feel the presence when I'm in that cage, you know? 'I'm fighting Muhammad Ali's grandson...' I like to give them that kind of pressure, the stage, the lights, all that. I want them to feel what I'm feeling - what I felt for a long time.
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"I use it as fuel. It's like the gasoline in my tank that's going to just soar me to the…You know, the sky's the limit. So, yeah, I think the pressure is a good thing."
It comes as Walsh is set to return to the Smart Cage on Friday evening as he takes on Ronnie Gibbs at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Speaking about his opponent, Walsh said: "He's from Chicago. I think he had a pretty good amateur career. He was, I think, 7-1.
"He's 1-0 as a pro now. Seems like a striker, but can grapple too. Just seems like a good matchup for this fight. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm just super excited to be able to display all the stuff that I've improved on and all the things I've worked on since my last fight. And that's just what I'm most excited about, is being able to show the people that."
Biaggio Ali Walsh will be competing at PFL World Tournament on June 27 and is available to watch in the UK exclusively on DAZN.