Boxing

Ben Askren Makes Massive Announcement Amid Life-Threatening Lung Surgery

Ben Askren shared a major update on his road to recovery from a double-lung transplant surgery.
Grant Young|
Ben Askren at the ONE FC `Immortal Pursuit` press conference held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Nov. 22, 2017.
Ben Askren at the ONE FC `Immortal Pursuit` press conference held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Nov. 22, 2017. | IMAGO / Dreamstime

The notorious Jake Paul fought former UFC veteran and longtime MMA standout Ben Askren in a 2021 boxing bout, in which Paul won via first-round knockout. But Askren has become a major story in the entire combat sports community after a life-threatening illness he dealt with earlier this year.

In June, Askren's wife Amy revealed over social media that her husband was fighting for his life in the hospital because of complications from having pneumonia combined with a severe staph infection. Askren's condition reached a point where he needed a double lung transplant, which was going to cost an estimated $2 million that his health insurance wasn't going to cover.

As a result, the entire combat sports community raised money for Askren's surgery, which ended up being successful and led him on the road to recovery.

Askren broke his silence about everything he has gone through with a July 9 Instagram post that included him saying, "I don't remember anything from May 28th to July 2nd. No recollection, zero idea. No idea what happened.

"So I only died four times. Where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds," Askren continued. "That's not ideal. You guys know that. But I got the double lung transplant, I made it on the other side of it, gaining quite a bit of strength, learning to use everything again... So, man, that was a battle."

Askren made that July 9 post from his hospital bed. However, his most recent video update, which came on June 22, was done from the passenger's seat of his car.

"What's up guys? Day 59. I'm out," he said in a post that was captioned, "Update #4- GOING HOME". In other words, Askren has now been released from the hospital.

The former MMA champion went on to get choked up in the video, thanking everyone for all the support he and his family have received in what has been a terribly trying time.

While Askren may not be out of the woods quite yet, it seems the worst part of the storm is now behind him.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.