Exclusive Q&A: Muhammad Ali grandson on MMA career and biggest topics in boxing

He is the grandson of Muhammad Ali. After a successful amateur career, Biaggio Ali Walsh (2-0) is about to fight his third professional bout. He will face Ronnie Gibbs on June 27. 

DAZN News spoke to the fighter who talked about why he decided to get into MMA and the legacy he wants to leave behind.

DAZN News: You will be fighting Ronnie Gibbs. What do you think of him?

Biaggio Ali Walsh: I think he's a great opponent. He's 1-0. He went 6-1 as an amateur. Seems game, signed right away. I'm really excited. Looking forward to it.

DN: Any prediction?

BAW: My prediction is I get the win in a dominating fashion. That's my prediction. I could be wrong, could be right. Don't know. But I'm going out there to just have fun, trust God, and the outcome is already written.

DN: Why did you decide to become an MMA fighter?

BAW: I was around 22 when I started taking training a little bit more seriously. I had started training when I was done with college football because I played in high school and in college. And when I was done with football, that was when I felt lost, wasn't living the best lifestyle. And I started training at Xtreme Couture and slowly started to fall in love. So, yeah, it was, I think, around 22 when I started to take it a lot more seriously.

DN: Is there a guy that you want next?

BAW: Not really. Whoever I fight is whoever I fight. I'm about to be 3-0, hopefully. I still got a lot of fights to get before I start fighting veterans with 20 pro fights. So I'm working my way up slowly but surely. I like to think that this game is a marathon, not a sprint. Taking my time. Whoever I fight next is whoever I fight next, and then so forth going forward.

DN: How did you deal with that pressure? To be Ali’s grandson?

BAW: I had it my whole life. Before, it was all over the news and everything. It was word on the street. It was in my school. I felt that when I was a little kid. Dealing with it, there's nothing much I can really do except accept it. Growing up, me and my family always kept it a secret. Never really went around and told people.

Then I would know if somebody found out because they'd start acting different, whether it's negative or positive. Dealing with the pressure, honestly, is just accepting that I'm related to a very famous icon.

At the end of the day, it fuels me. It makes me want to do better and be a better person. But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.

DN: What is your goal in MMA?

BAW: My ultimate goal in MMA is… It’s a cliché answer, but I want to help and inspire people. I want to bring people to the truth. I want to show people what it looks like when you trust God. I’ve gotten very close to my faith in the last couple of years. I fight for money. I fight so that I can eventually be able to provide for my wife and my kids. That's the reason I fight.

These are the ultimate things that I want in my MMA. I want to be an exciting fighter as well. I want to be that fighter where even if I lose, I'm bruised up and cut up and bloody, people come up to me and are like, "That was awesome. That was awesome." I want that. That's my ultimate goal in MMA.

I look at this as it's just a job for me. It's just a sport. The things that really matter are how you live your life, how you treat people, how you go about in your life, how you react to adversity. Do you keep faith in the one who created you?

These are things that really matter. Winning and losing doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I like to take a step back and look at the greater picture because what it does is it helps me with the pressure and it helps me. It frees you. It's freeing to know that. So, yeah, that's the ultimate goal.

DN: Do you have any source of inspiration in MMA?

BAW: In MMA, I got a lot of favorite fighters. Petr Yan is one of my favorites. I love José Aldo. Ilia Topuria right now is my current favorite. That dude is a beast. He's a stud.

For me, the inspiration comes from their fighting style as well. A lot of those guys I just mentioned, it's their fighting style that inspires me. In terms of as a person, as a fighter, I think Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam — they're at the top for me. How they carry themselves as a person, what they do with the money they make, and how they provide for their family.

They seem like very down-to-earth, righteous guys. So, yeah, those are some of the few names that inspire me for sure.

DN: What is your prediction Oleksandr Usyk's rematch with Daniel Dubois?

BAW: I got to go Usyk. I'm going to go Usyk. He is a beast. Not discrediting the other guy either. It's a bias in my opinion. I'm an Usyk fan.

DN: And for Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford?

BAW: I want Bud to win, but I think Canelo has got it. I mean, you look at the guys he's fought, right? And his style and volume is just... And he's heavier. Bud is going up, and Canelo is used to fighting at that weight. I think that those are a couple of the factors that lead me to think that Canelo might get that one.

DN: Do you think you will ever pursue a career in boxing?

BAW: It's possible. I feel like I have some of the boxing just in my blood. Even in MMA, I like to stand and trade. It's possible for sure. I think that that's something that would happen after my MMA career. But there's more money in that. There's a lot of money in boxing, too. So it's definitely a possibility, but it's not something that I'm thinking about right now.

Watch Usyk vs Dubois 2 exclusively live on DAZN PPV, Saturday, July 19.