The remarkable story of Ben Askren’s recovery from a life-or-death battle with pneumonia that left him undergoing a double-lung transplant is about to have a major new chapter as he’s just announced that he’s going to return to the wrestling mat against Belal Muhammad at RAF 11 on July 18th.
“I was the first signee for Real American Freestyle back in May of 2025 prior to all my issues,” Askren said on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’. “I love wrestling. I love what they’re doing. I’ve been back coaching for three months or so right now on regular practices….They told me that they were doing a show in Milwaukee — I asked them to come to Milwaukee because I knew we would knock it out of the park.
“But it was July 18, and it was my birthday and I thought something spoke to me and said I need to wrestle on that. So i’ve been doing my very best every single day to train and to get in shape and it’s feeling really good. I’m in the wrestling room. I’m wrestling with the guys. I mean, not not super hard yet, but I’m doing things.”
The seriousness of Askren’s illness can’t be overstated as he was hospitalized in early June last year after a bad staph infection suddenly turned into severe necrotizing pneumonia, leaving him in a coma.
By June 30th Askren had undergone a life-saving double-lung transplant and gradually emerged from his 45 day coma 50lbs lighter and facing a very long road to recovery.
And the tough reality is that this was genuinely a life-changing situation as Askren now has to be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life due to his transplant, which suppresses his immune system and impacts his quality of life.
Nevertheless, thanks to his age, athletic background and impressive mental toughness and determination, Askren has exceeded expectations with his recovery over the past year, and he’s now at the point where he just couldn’t resist the urge to make an unlikely return to his wrestling roots.
“I think it started as I was getting better,” Askren said. “I told my doctor, ‘Hey, man, I I want to go back to coaching practices. I want to go back to my life. I want to go back to doing what I love.’ He said, ‘You can. You have to be a little smarter. You’d [have to] to take a few more precautions.”
Truth be told Askren is undoubtedly underplaying how much of a risk he’s taking here health-wise, but he seems very determined to go through with it, so hopefully everything goes ok and he continues to inspire people by living a happy, healthy life for many years to come.
