A year ago, Ben Askren was comatose, fighting for his life. On Saturday, he wrestles Belal Muhammad.
The former Olympian and UFC welterweight nearly died in June 2025, hospitalized and unconscious for days before doctors saved him with a double-lung transplant. He was barely recognizable when he woke up. Now he’s days from the RAF 11 co-main event, and he told MMA Fighting the whole ordeal has started to feel unreal.
I’m almost to the point where it seems like a bad dream or something sometimes. I feel like I’m just me now. Obviously, I take medicine everyday, and there’s still some limitations that I can’t forget about, but I do find myself feeling more and more normal. At points it does just seem like a terrible dream.
Askren never planned a comeback. He got back on the mats coaching at his own academy, and the itch found him.
I remember when RAF told me they were coming to Milwaukee, something said I should wrestle in that.
The real test came around late March, against a scrappy high school kid.
I’m like eff it, I’ll see if I can do a six-minute match. So I wrestled him but my thought was funny because I don’t know if I can go six minutes. I might just fall over at four minutes or five minutes. So I wrestled an uber conservative style, but I won the match. I was like fine, I’m not very good right now but within the course of training over the next three months, I can get a lot better.
His doctors have signed off, and his one-year checkup came back clean.
I got reduced on a lot of medicines, which I can feel my body changing from that. Everything’s headed in a really good direction. I’m really grateful for everything that’s happened in the last year.
Askren hopes his return means something beyond himself.
Your life absolutely changes forever but just because it’s different, doesn’t mean it can’t be great still. I’m a year out, and I’m going to continue to improve from here. I don’t think I’m anywhere near a final form.
