Former UFC fighter and ex-Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren knows he is lucky just to be alive. Askren is currently recovering following a double lung transplant.
Askren suffered severe pneumonia that became a staph infection. He was placed on life support but provided his first public comments recently.
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“I just read through my wife’s journal because I don’t remember anything from May 28 to July 2,” Askren said (thanks to MMA Fighting for the quotes). “No recollection. No idea. No idea what happened. I just read through my wife’s journals and it’s like a movie, It’s ridiculous.”
He mentioned that his heart actually stopped four times and lost 50 pounds. But, Askren said he is “gaining quite a bit of strength, learning to use everything again.”
The 40-year-old Askren was an amateur wrestling standout before embarking on a career in mixed martial arts. He last fought in 2019, losing to Demian Maia in the UFC.
Askren was a two-time state wrestling champion in Wisconsin and a national runner-up. He won two NCAA Division I titles for Missouri and was a winner at the USA Senior Freestyle Olympic Team Trials in 2008.
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