Ex-Bellator, ONE Title Holder Ben Askren Hospitalized with Severe Pneumonia
Former Bellator MMA and ONE Championship title holder Ben Askren has been hospitalized with pneumonia.
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“You may have heard that my husband Ben is going through something,” Amy Askren wrote. “He developed severe pneumonia which come on very suddenly. He’s currently in the hospital and unable to respond to anything at this time. We welcome all prayers for healing and for peace. We are trying to keep life as normal as possible for our children currently and doing our best to support them thoughtfully, so please refrain from discussing it with them for now.”
Update on Ben Askren pic.twitter.com/74uk2xeDW4
— Mark Bader (@MarkSBader) June 8, 2025
A two-time NCAA national champion wrestler at the University of Missouri and a 2008 Olympian, Askren put his mat skills to good use in the mixed martial arts realm. He made his professional debut in 2009 and went unbeaten in his first 20 fights, capturing titles in Bellator and ONE along the way.
Askren was later part of a historic trade between ONE and the UFC, where the Las Vegas-based promotion dealt former flyweight king Demetrious Johnson to obtain the man known as “Funky.” While Askren submitted Robbie Lawler in his first UFC outing, he wouldn’t fight in MMA again after being finished by Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia in back-to-back Octagon appearances in 2019.
Askren retired from MMA in November 2019, when he revealed that he would need to undergo hip replacement surgery. More recently, Askren tried his hand at boxing, falling to Jake Paul via first-round knockout in their April 2021 bout.
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