MMA star Ben Askren returns to fighting less than a year after double lung transplant, stint on life support

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Former UFC fighter and Olympic wrestler Ben Askren will be fighting for the first time in nearly seven years after undergoing a double-lung transplant.

Last year, Askren was on a ventilator and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), with his wife, Amy, going as far as saying he needed a “miracle.”

Well, the miracle occurred, and a comeback is now on the horizon.

Askren will face former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in a wrestling match at Real American Freestyle 11 on July 18, his 42nd birthday, in Milwaukee. RAF was co-founded by the late Hulk Hogan.

Askren “developed severe pneumonia which came on very suddenly” last June, Amy said, and was eventually put on life support. Askren was placed on the transplant list on June 24 and received a donor organ days later.

Askren later said that he did not remember anything from May 28 to July 2 and “only died four times” while losing 50 pounds in the hospital. He was released from the hospital on July 22 after 59 days.

“It was hard, it was hard. And I said this already in one of my videos, but the support you guys gave me, whether it was sending a GoFundMe, whether it was helping my kids and wife get through it – I had friends from all over the country come to visit and hang out for a couple of days – it meant so much,” Askren said when he was released. “It was so great to just have all this support and all the love, and hopefully I’m not in this situation again for a really, really, really long time. I plan on living a while.”

Ben Askren standing in his corner at UFC Fight Night in Singapore

BOXER JAKE PAUL TOUTS FORMER OPPONENT BEN ASKREN’S PERSEVERANCE DURING EX-UFC STAR’S BOUT WITH SERIOUS ILLNESS

Askren said he then turned to Christianity.

“There was multiple times where they thought I was dead. Like I was dead, that’s the other side,” Askren said in a later interview. “I woke up and I just decided I was a Christian. So, that’s crazy.

“I went with my wife to church for 15 years because that was part of the deal. I said, ‘Well, I’m not Christian, but I’ll support you.’ And it was really weird when I woke up, I’m like ‘I gotta do it.’ You know? So, that was kind of weird.”

Former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington will also fight in the event.

The 41-year-old was an NCAA champion in the 170-pound division in 2006 and 2007 and went on to compete for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics. He won gold medals in the 2005 Pan American Championships and the 2009 World Championships. He made his full transition to MMA when he debuted in Bellator in 2010. He then competed in ONE Championship before joining the UFC.

He defeated Robbie Lawler via submission at UFC 235 before losing to Jorge Masvidal in a high-profile bout. Askren retired from mixed martial arts in 2019 after compiling a 19-2 record, with both losses coming in his three UFC fights.