'This is in my blood': Biaggio Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, set for pro MMA debut

Considering his famous grandfather’s faith and connection to the kingdom, Biaggio Ali Walsh recognises the additional significance that comes with making his professional MMA debut in Saudi Arabia this week.

“Absolutely,” the American tells The National. “What are the odds that if somebody would've told my grandfather in his thirties, ‘Hey, you're going to have a grandson, he's going to fight in a new sport called mixed martial arts, and he's going to fight in Saudi Arabia'?

“You would've never guessed stuff like this. What God has written out is the best plan of all. It's crazy, but it means the world to me. And it's just, I don't know, it just feels like the beginning of a good story.”

Ali Walsh’s grandfather has arguably the greatest story of them all. Certainly, one of the most chronicled.

As the surname suggests, and the chosen vocation alludes to, Biaggio is two generations removed from Muhammad Ali, the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion and, for many, the pre-eminent personality in sports history. Ali Walsh’s mother is Rasheda Ali, one of “The Greatest’s” nine children.

Speaking from his bedroom in the Las Vegas base he shares with younger brother Nico, himself a pro boxer, and a couple days out from his first trip to the Gulf, Ali Walsh acknowledges the extra sentiment attached to this weekend.

Six and one as an amateur – he rides a six-bout winning streak having dropped his first fight – the lightweight competes on Saturday night in Riyadh, his pro debut also marking the Professional Fighters League’s inaugural outing in Saudi Arabia.

There, at Kingdom Arena in the capital, Ali Walsh will face Argentina’s Emmanuel Palacio on the much-anticipated “PFL Champions vs Bellator Champions” card.

Given his