Muhammad Ali’s fighting grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh kept up the family legacy as he landed the first knockout of his professional career last night.
The mild-mannered former football player landed a slew of early finishes in his amateur career, which also took place under the PFL banner over the last two years. But he was taken the distance in his pro debut this February, ending a six-fight streak of knockouts.
He made his return to action last night in Hollywood, Florida to kick off the ESPN main card on a night of Playoff action that otherwise featured light-heavyweights and lightweights. And despite his opponent weighing in a massive 5lb heavier than him, the bout went ahead, with Ali Walsh winning within a minute.
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Biaggio Ali Walsh lands first professional MMA KO at PFL in Florida
On Friday night in Hollywood, Florida the fan-favourite Biaggio Ali Walsh made his sophomore outing as a professional in another prime TV spot. Generally, ESPN will just show the four playoff fights during a PFL card, but they made an exception in order to squeeze in a quick fight from the grandson of a legend.
Luckily for the broadcaster, they didn’t have much to show as Ali Walsh and his opponent Brian Stapleton both made their walks quickly, before squaring off for just 55 seconds. Stapleton, making his professional debut, had stepped in on a weeks’ notice when original opponent Korey Taylor was injured.
After missing weight and forcing the bout into a catchweight, Stapleton looked considerably slower than Ali Walsh, and was dropped early. And within seconds he was put down again with a straight right that ended the night early and continued the winning streak for his opponent.
Biaggio Ali Walsh insists he is ‘not rushing’ professional career as he continues winning run
The victory was yet another indicator of the levels between Ali Walsh and his crop of opponents since signing with the PFL in 2022. He stopped all of his amateur opponents within two rounds, but was dragged the distance in his debut at the pro level by Emanuel Palacio.
However, he is refusing to lose the run of himself and given his late start in combat sport following a glowing football career in his youth, he says it could be years before he’s fighting name opponents in the Smart Cage.
“I’m a baby,” he insisted during a post-fight media scrum. “It’s going to take a long time, like maybe a couple of years for me to even get to that point where I’m fighting guys who have been in the sport longer than I have.
“Guys that are in the tournament or have a really good record. This sport is a marathon, not a sprint and I’m American, I’m not Russian! Flavor Flav told me to say that, it’s a play on words! I’m not looking to rush nothing I want to get better and learn on the job.”
Biaggio Ali Walsh reveals messages of support from star boxer brother Nico
The win delighted the Florida crowd, who only got two other stoppages all night. In amongst the chaos were boxer Nico Ali Walsh, Biaggio’s brother, and their music icon godfather Flavor Flav, who attends all of their fights.
The younger Ali Walsh sibling opts not to have his brother in the corner for his fights given the differences between MMA striking and boxing. But he still receives positive advice before his fights, with Nico holding considerably more combat experience.
“Nico is a boxer and he knows that I like to stand and throw hands,” Ali Walsh told Bloody Elbow after the fight. “There’s certain things that he tells me like ‘look for this, don’t throw 100 per cent into your shots and my striking coach was his boxing coach for years.
“We have that kind of small circle and the advice Nico usually gives me in the stand-up. Boxing and MMA striking is completely different, there’s a range difference and a stance difference, you can’t really have that bladed stance too much in MMA because you’ll get low kicked.
“You’ve got to be a bit more square and find that balance in between and my striking coach is really good at striking for MMA. So I’ve got my team and that’s all I need.”
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