24 February 2024 , 20:57
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Muhammad Ali's grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh won an unentertaining decision in his professional MMA debut.
Ali Walsh, 25, had already fought seven times as an amateur going into his professional fight against Emmanuel Palacio at the PFL vs Bellator Championships event in Saudi Arabia. The grandson-of-a-legend was known for his knockout power with all of his six amateur wins coming by knockout.
There were roars from the Riyadh crowd in the opening 10 seconds of the fight as Ali Walsh showed he isn’t just a striker by taking Palacio to the ground. Palacio landed a good knee after getting back to his feet before Ali Walsh pressed him up against the fence. The rest of the opening round was uneventful as Ali Walsh controlled Palacio on the ground but failed to land anything significant.
Biaggio Ali Walsh won his professional MMA debutBoth men were handing some big strikes at the start of the second round and Ali Walsh continued to show off his wrestling by taking Palacio down again, but the referee was quick to stand them up for inactivity. Ali Walsh came out firing in the final round and took the fight to the ground again by slipping under a punch to slam Palacio on the mat.
The grandson-of-a-legend happily sat in side control as Palacio showed no willingness to get back to his feet. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favour of Ali Walsh after the final bell. Mirror Fighting spoke to Ali Walsh before his fight about his plans for this year and why winning a world title isn't on his radar.
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"I try to bring excitement every time I step in the cage, I want to win four fights this year and elevate myself. You'll hear me say this throughout my entire career, I'm not fighting for a belt. I'm fighting to just test myself and see how far I can go, if I ever win a belt someday I plan to give it to my coach," he said.
"My coach can look at it and say 'I built a world champion from a blank canvas, a guy with no combat sports background who just walked in the gym and started training'. Maybe there are some fighters that think the same, but I'm coming in this sport only to see how far I can go. The main goal is helping lost people like myself who didn't know where to go."