Ben Askren Returns for RAF 11 Match 1 Year After Double-Lung Transplant
Updated
Updated · MMA Fighting · Jul 15
Ben Askren Returns for RAF 11 Match 1 Year After Double-Lung Transplant
3 articles · Updated · MMA Fighting · Jul 15
Summary
Ben Askren is set to face Belal Muhammad in Saturday’s RAF 11 co-main event, marking a return to wrestling roughly one year after a near-fatal illness led to a double-lung transplant.
A recent one-year checkup cleared that comeback: Askren said doctors found everything “good” and reduced several medications after months of rehabilitation and breathing limitations.
The comeback took shape gradually after he resumed coaching in Milwaukee, tested himself in a six-minute practice match in late March, and decided he could improve enough to compete again.
Askren said the bout will be his final wrestling match, with the timing — his hometown event and birthday — turning the return into a personal capstone as much as a competition.