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.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMBen Askren attends a news conference for Triller Fight Club's inaugural 2021 boxing event at The Venetian Las Vegas on March 26, 2021.(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)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 stands in his corner before his welterweight bout against Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night in Singapore on Oct.
26, 2019.(Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)BOXER JAKE PAUL TOUTS FORMER OPPONENT BEN ASKREN'S PERSEVERANCE DURING EX-UFC STAR'S BOUT WITH SERIOUS ILLNESSAskren said...