LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Muhammad Ali’s grandson believes his grandfather would have been a great mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
Biaggio Ali Walsh, 24, makes his second Professional Fighters League (PFL) appearance this Friday (Apr. 7, 2023) against Isaiah Figueroa inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After a successful high school football career, the grandson of one of the best boxers of all time decided to fight but not boxing – MMA and is 2-1 as an amateur.
During PFL 2 media day, Ali Walsh was asked if he thinks his legendary grandfather would have been good at MMA and his thoughts on a fantasy matchup between Jon Jones and Ali.
“I think just his mentality alone would take him very far,” Ali Walsh told reporters. “You know, if he obviously wrestled, did jiu-jitsu, and did all these other things that are pretty much required for MMA, I think he’d do great. Jon Jones actually looked up to him, as far as mentality and stuff like that. So, if Muhammad Ali was an MMA fighter and he was fighting against Jon Jones, it’d be a great fight because they both have that mentality. So yeah, I think he’d hold up pretty well.”
While Ali never had the chance to fight in modern MMA, he sort of did. In 1976, he was paid a lot of money to fight the world heavyweight wrestling champion from Japan, Antonio Inoki.
It was an iconic and silly fight but is widely considered the event to kickstart MMA.
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