Former UFC star Ben Askren is to return to competitive action nearly a year after undergoing life-changing surgery.
Last year, the 41-year-old was rushed to hospital after contracting pneumonia as a result of a staph infection. But weeks later, it was announced that he had a successful double lung transplant surgery.
After nearly two months in the hospital, he was able to go home – where he has continued to recover and improve his health. During his time in hospital, Askren revealed he lost 50lb in a span of 45 days. The American has since been making odd appearances on our screens, a refreshing sight for fans within the world of combat sports.
Askren has returned to training shortly before Christmas, and is now expected to make a return to competition. He is scheduled to face former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in a freestyle wrestling match at RAF 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee.
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Speaking of his decision to make a stunning comeback, Askren said: “I love wrestling, I love what [RAF] are doing. I’ve been coaching for three months or so now on regular practices, and when they told me they were doing a show in Milwaukee on July 18 — my birthday — something spoke to me and said, ‘I need to wrestle in that.’
“So I’ve been doing my best every single day in training to get in shape, and it’s feeling really good. I’m in the wrestling room, wrestling with the guys, not super hard yet, but I’m doing things. I told them last week, ‘I want to wrestle,’ and they said, ‘OK, if you want to wrestle, we support it.'”
While many may know Askren for his accomplishments in the cage, the 41-year-old was actually a seasoned wrestler before transitioning over to MMA. The Iowa native won several medals representing his beloved USA prior to his professional MMA debut in 2009.
Following his debut, Askren enjoyed a meteoric rise up the ranks – winning a world title in just his seventh fight. He would go on to defend his Bellator strap four times before making the switch to ONE FC. In just his second fight under the ONE banner, he picked up yet another world title.
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Askren defend the coveted gold prize multiple times before making the switch to the UFC. Following a successful debut over Robbie Lawler in 2019, he retired from MMA after back-to-back defeats to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia. However, two years later, he tried his luck in the world of boxing, but was knocked out in the first round by Jake Paul.
Muhammad, on the other hand, has been very much active since Askren’s last appearance. The 37-year-old is scheduled to take on Gabriel Bonfim on Saturday night. The ex-UFC champion has not fought since losing to Ian Machado Garry in November. July’s outing with Askren will not mark the American-Palestinian’s first appearance in RAF – after he made his promotional debut in December, losing to David Car via technical fall.
