Wife Provides Positive Update on Ben Askren’s Recovery

Ben Askren continues to make slow and steady progress after recently being hospitalized due to pneumonia.

His wife, Amy Askren, gave a positive update on the UFC veteran’s condition in a Facebook post on Tuesday. At the time Askren was under evaluation for a lung transplant, but there has also been positive progress in that regard.

"As of late last night, Ben is officially on the transplant list. Please pray he can get stronger and stay stable without complications while he waits, and that they find an amazing match for him and he accepts it smoothly,” Amy wrote. “Also please pray for whoever that donor may be, and his family. It’s going to be a huge adjustment for Ben, but our family is so thankful that his other organs are ok and that there is a path forward. While he is having more periods of awareness, he’s not able to look at his phone yet and respond to messages. I am hoping he can get there in the next week or two! Also hoping we will get to a place soon where he can talk while on a trach.”

Wife: Ben Askren on Lung Transplant List

Last week, Amy revealed that while her husband was still on a ventilator and an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine, he was able to open his eyes and “squeeze hands” as doctors gradually weaned him off sedation. Now it appears that the former Bellator and ONE Championship title holder is gradually becoming more responsive.

"Yesterday he kept mouthing something for a while and we finally figured out he was saying coffee! (He cant have it yet lol)" Amy wrote. "What a huge relief to see him asking for something so normal. I’m so thankful his mind is healthy, and I can’t wait to have him back. We are also so thankful for the amazing community we have — from close friends, friends we haven’t talked to in 20+ years, to strangers who have reached out to share their similar stories or pray. Thank you.”

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.