Biaggio Ali Walsh returned to the PFL on Saturday night at PFL Austin carrying one of the most recognized surnames in sports history. He left carrying something far less glorious: a first-round submission loss that briefly had everyone in the building fearing the worst.
Walsh stepped onto the prelim card against undefeated prospect Gamid Khizriev, and from the opening seconds, it was clear the matchup would be a difficult test of his development as a mixed martial artist.
Khizriev, composed and methodical, began scoring takedowns almost at will, repeatedly dragging Walsh to the canvas and stripping away the range and movement that a boxing-based game plan depends on.
Walsh worked to defend, moving his way back to vertical more than once, but Khizriev’s grappling was relentless. Eventually, Khizriev secured the back position and locked in a body triangle. When Walsh attempted to rotate into the triangle to escape, Khizriev countered with his legs, cutting off the turn and maneuvering his opponent into a modified twister, a spinal compression hold that demands both technical precision and complete positional dominance.
Walsh tapped at 2:32 of the first round.
What followed was arguably more alarming than the submission itself. After Khizriev released the hold, Walsh remained on the mat, draped across his opponent’s leg, grimacing in obvious discomfort. The scene drew genuine concern from those ringside, and for a tense few moments, it appeared he might need to be assisted out of the arena entirely. Walsh ultimately rose to his feet and seemed to have avoided any serious structural damage.
The submission, referred to as a “Scottish Twister” and described on social media as “a nasty spinal lock,” is a rare finish at the professional level. Unlike chokes or joint locks that are standard currency in submission grappling, the twister and its variations target the spine itself.
For Walsh, 26, the result is a data point in what has been an earnest but complicated transition from the boxing gym to the cage. The grandson of Muhammad Ali, he has carried his legacy into an entirely different competitive arena.
SCOTTISH TWISTER. Gamid Khizriev submits Biaggio Ali Walsh with a nasty spinal lock in the first round
by
u/ColoradoRokkie in
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