Islamabad, July 1, 2025: Former MMA titleholder and Olympic wrestler Ben Askren is on the road to recovery following a double lung transplant. His wife, Amy, provided the update in a Facebook post on Monday.
“We are so thankful to share that Ben has received a double lung transplant,” she wrote. “We are forever thankful to the donor and his family. This is the beginning of a new lifestyle for Ben, but every new day he has is a gift. It still doesn’t feel real that he was walking around completely healthy just five weeks ago. So much can change so quickly. Please keep Ben in your prayers that his body welcomes the new lungs as if they were his own. I am constantly in awe of all the people carrying us through right now. I can’t wait to tell Ben all about it. I’m hopeful that in the coming weeks, Ben will be able to give the next update.”
Askren, 40, has been struggling with pneumonia at a hospital in Wisconsin for the past several weeks. He was placed on a ventilator on June 17 and added to the transplant list on June 24, according to Amy.
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During his wrestling days at Missouri, Askren claimed three Big 12 titles and secured two NCAA Division I national titles. He also brought home gold from the 2005 Pan American Championships and the 2009 World Championships. He advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
After retiring from wrestling, he entered the world of MMA and recorded a 19-2 career record, with one bout declared a no-contest across 22 fights. Askren captured the Bellator welterweight title in 2010 and stepped into the UFC in 2019. He dropped two of his three UFC matches, including a five-second knockout defeat to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 in Las Vegas.
Ben Askren also made a short-lived entrance into boxing on April 17, 2021, where he was defeated by Jake Paul via first-round TKO.
