Ben Askren made his first public comments since undergoing a successful double lung transplant in late June.
The 40-year-old retired UFC welterweight and former Bellator MMA champion was hospitalized roughly six weeks ago with a severe case of pneumonia after he contracted a staph infection.
The two-time Division 1 collegiate national wrestling champion and a representative of the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics had been on a ventilator and ECMO machine (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) since mid-June prior to his surgery.
Askren, an Iowa native who lives in and coaches wrestling in Wisconsin, explained in a video message posted to his Instagram page that he has no recollection of anything from May 28 to July 2.
“I just read through my wife’s journal and it’s like a movie,” an emaciated Askren said.
Askren explained he weighed only 147 pounds earlier this week and that he hasn’t been that light since he was 15 years old. He said he lost about 50 pounds over a roughly 45-day period while in the hospital.
“So, I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds. That’s not ideal,” Askren, who is known for his dry sense of humour, said with a sly smile. “I got the double lung transplant. I made it out the other side of it, gaining quite a bit of strength, learning to use everything again.”
Amy Askren, Ben’s wife, had been posting regular updates on his condition throughout his hospital stay and started a fundraising campaign in their community to help pay for the medical bills.
“The thing that was most impactful for me was all the love I felt from everybody. It was almost like I got to have my own funeral,” Askren added. “The outpouring of love from the wrestling community was just amazing. It felt so good, and so I’m more motivated than ever just to keep giving back and do what I can to help the wrestling community. I love you guys. I appreciate you guys. It’s been tough, not only on me but on my family and my close community, so I appreciate everything and hope you guys appreciate the update and like I said, sometime down the road, maybe Amy and I can detail everything a little more.”
Askren retired from professional fighting after a boxing match with Jake Paul in 2021 and has dedicated his post-fighting career to coaching wrestling.
