ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Biaggio Ali Walsh is an up-and-coming fighter in the Professional Fighters League. The 24-year-old is keeping up with an incredible family legacy.
“High school was a great run. I was super blessed to be able to go to Bishop Gorman. We played the toughest teams in the country at the time. We were national champions three years in a row,” he said.
From the field to the cage, Walsh went from being a running back to an MMA fighter.
In high school, he went 54-0 and scored over 60 touchdowns, so it’s no surprise it landed him at Cal, then UNLV. Once his football career was over, he needed something else to keep him in shape.
“When I was interning at this athletic facility, some of the guys I was coaching were fighters at Xtreme Couture that I knew and I just remember watching them put in the hard work and so I thought to myself, I’m still young, you know? Why not do the same with MMA?” he said.
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Being a fighter is in his blood: his grandfather is legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
Walsh described his lineage as “tons of pressure. I had it since I was a little kid. It kind of elevated when I got, when I was successful in football. I was like 14 or 15 years old when Max Preps, they do a lot of high school sports coverage, they found out and until this day, like, I don’t know how they found out who I was related to because I don’t walk around telling people. I don’t know if it’s from my grandfather or whatever but I definitely have sleep and explosiveness.”
“And as tough as Boaggio is, he steps foot in the cage for one reason... To give back.
“If I become a world champion, especially in the PFL, you know? I’ll win the belt and I’ll win a million dollars, you know? And I think a million dollars is enough to help a lot of people so that’s what my grandfather did and that’s what I took from him. He inspired me to use MMA as a platform the way he used boxing as a platform,” he said.
Until he hits a million, he’s doing other things to give back. He spent the day driving around town changing lives in his hometown of Las Vegas a few days ago.
“Sunday, I was feeding the homeless. I put together a bunch of bags and I just drove downtown in very low-income areas and just gave food to the homeless, you know? That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
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