Former UFC and Bellator fighter Ben Askren is ‘officially on the transplant list’ to receive a new lung. Askren’s wife, Amy, provided an update on her husband’s condition and revealed ‘Funky’ is showing signs of improvement.
On June 7, Amy revealed that the former ONE FC and Bellator champion had been hospitalized in Nevada with “severe pneumonia.” He was moved to a Wisconsin facility to be closer to home and family.
Askren remains in the hospital awaiting a lung transplant but is having ‘more periods of awareness.’
“As of late last night, Ben is officially on the transplant list. Please pray he can get stronger and stay stable without complications while he waits, and that they find an amazing match for him and he accepts it smoothly. Also please pray for whoever that Donor may be, and his family,” Amy wrote on Facebook.
“It’s going to be a huge adjustment for Ben, but our family is so thankful that his other organs are ok and that there is a path forward while he is having more periods of awareness, he’s not able to look at his phone yet and respond to messages. I am hoping he can get there in the next week or two! Also hoping we will get to a place soon where he can talk while on a trach. Yesterday he kept mouthing something for a while and we finally figured out he was saying coffee! (He cant have it yet lol) What a huge relief to see him asking for something so normal.
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“I’m so thankful his mind is healthy and I can’t wait to have him back. We are also so thankful for the amazing community we have-from close friends, friends We haven’t talked to in 20+ years, to strangers who have reached out to share their similar stories or pray. Thank you.”
Askren retired from MMA in 2019. He returned to combat sports in April 2021 in a boxing match against Jake Paul. He hosts a popular podcast on YouTube with former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier.
