Ben Askren is set to make a remarkable return to competition, barely a year after undergoing life-saving surgery.
On 18 July, Askren will wrestle UFC star Belal Muhammad, as the pair square off in a Real American Freestyle (RAF) main event in Milwaukee.
Askren is a former Olympic wrestler who went on to win mixed-martial-arts (MMA) gold in One and Bellator, before he starred in the UFC and even boxed once – suffering a knockout by YouTuber Jake Paul in 2021.
And last June, the 41-year-old underwent a double lung transplant, which was required to treat “severe pneumonia” that seemingly stemmed from a staph infection.
Askren was in hospital for the best part of two months and said he effectively “died four times”. The American also said he lost around 23kg during his time suffering from illness and recovering.
Soon, however, he will make a stunning comeback to competition, as he takes on Muhammad, who recently reigned as the UFC’s welterweight champion.
Muhammad, 37, will actually compete in a UFC Fight Night main event on Saturday, facing Gabriel Bonfim, as the American-Palestinian aims to end a two-fight losing streak. After suffering a points loss to Jack Della Maddalena in a title fight last May, Muhammad was outpointed by Ian Machado Garry in November. Muhammad later made his RAF debut in December, losing to David Car via technical fall.
Meanwhile, when Askren faces Muhammad, it will be the American’s first competitive outing since his boxing match with Paul. That first-round KO loss followed Askren’s 1-2 UFC run, in which a controversial submission win over Robbie Lawler gave way to defeats by Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia.
Masvidal knocked out Askren in a UFC-record five seconds, before Maia submitted him. Those bouts, as well as the win against ex-champion Lawler, took place in 2019. Still, Askren has strong a pedigree from his time as a Team USA wrestler and an MMA champion in One and Bellator.
Askren told Uncrowned on Monday: “[Muhammad and I] trained together for a little bit. You know, it was interesting on which opponent I should pick, because when I signed with RAF, I was competing at a pretty high level. At the gym that I’m coaching at, we have quite a few guys who have won titles, so I got to wrestle them on a really regular basis.
“So, I was like: ‘Hey, I wanna wrestle someone really good, because I’m competing at a very high level still.’ Now obviously this happened, and my wrestling knowledge and my wrestling acumen is still incredibly high, but my physical capacity was probably…. Only five or six months ago, I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded and struggling!
“So, my physical capacity pretty much went to zero, [but] now I train pretty much every single day in some way, shape or form, trying to build myself back. I’m in the wrestling room very, very frequently.
“I wanted to pick someone who was tough, and Belal is really, really tough, but he doesn’t have super-high-level wrestling credentials; that wasn’t his background, that’s not what he did permanently. I know I couldn’t compete with some of the high-level wrestlers at this point in my life, but I feel like I can still compete against someone really good.
“And I didn’t want to go to the other side and pick someone who was too easy, because that annoys me. Some of the wrestlers at RAF actually want easy matches, and it’s annoying, because it’s like: ‘You’re really, really good; you don’t get to go beat up an easy guy.’ What is the point of competition? The point of competition is to see what we’re capable of, and if I know that person is really wimpy, then what’s the point in competing against them?”
