Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren owes his life to his wife, Amy Askren, after a routine wrestling session nearly killed him in May 2025. As a fighter, he explored every stage of competition, from NCAA wrestling to the Olympics and eventually the UFC.
But the medical nightmare that left the 40-year-old fighter in a coma for 40 days in the middle of this year is comparable to none of those pictures. It was just a bad back pain, and within three days he was sent into a serious condition that required a double lung transplant.
And for the unversed, Skren’s heart stopped multiple times during his hospital stay, with one episode lasting more than 20 seconds. He is a warrior who survived such a condition, but if Amy, his wife, had refused to give up then, maybe we could have lost Askren long ago.
Ben Askren’s Shocking Hospital Confession After Double Lung Transplant Battle
Recently, the Real American Freestyle page on Instagram shared a video where Funky opened up about the cruel reality of his hospital time. His confessions about the severity are enough to shake anyone to their core.
A man who always hated seeking medical care never imagined he’d be fighting for survival in a hospital room – completely unaware of what was happening to him during those 40 days in a coma.
“In May, I had wrestled Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I came home, I felt totally fine. Then a couple hours later, my back started hurting really bad and I’m like, damn,” Askren recalled during a recent interview.
The pain intensified that night, disrupting his sleep every 45 minutes. Amy noticed something was seriously wrong with her husband’s breathing patterns.
“She videotapes me sleeping and I’m like, I look like s–. I’m breathing super hard and fast,” Askren said. Despite the warning, he initially resisted going to the hospital. But Amy insisted, and he admitted that the argument that followed may have saved his life.
After 30 minutes of arguing, he was finally convinced to go to the hospital. They took an Uber, but Ben Askren only remembers getting out of the car at the hospital building. Doctors then discovered that he was suffering from necrotizing pneumonia, a rare condition where bacteria literally eat away at lung tissue, as the 40-year-old revealed.
“I got this thing called necrotizing pneumonia. The doctors still can’t figure out how the hell it happened, but they start eating my lungs. So I was in a coma and life support for like 40 days. And then they gave me a lung transplant. I lost like 50 some pounds,” Funky said..
His condition was so critical that his heart stopped multiple times, with one moment lasting over 20 seconds. At one point, a nurse even informed Amy that her husband had died. However, in the end, things turned out well. But if Amy wasn’t there and forced the former Olympian to change mind, he could have joined someone else rather than us.
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It was a total 70-day ordeal and his wife maintained a vigil at the hospital while juggling parental duties at home. She even documented each day of her husband’s fight for survival.
Ben Askren Returns to MMA World Like Before
He is now in good condition, discharged from the hospital, and slowly recovering from the dark time. The best sign of his recovery is that he has again started sharing his opinions on current events in combat sports.
Recently, Askren brutally weighed in on Raja Jackson’s pro wrestling incident where he sent Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith hospital, getting out of the script. He placed the blame on the viewers. Slamming these twisted incentives, Funky wrote, “People love watching dumb shit, so the streamers battle to see who can do the most stupid shit!”
The Minnesota native has also been vocal about Conor McGregor’s training footage from Italy, criticizing the former UFC champ for going too hard on young fighters for no reason.
So, we can say that he has narrowly reclaimed his life. The only thing that may sting the MMA community is that he may never compete again. However, it is still good to have his voice.
Image credit: IMAGO / Xinhua
