EXCLUSIVE: Novo Inspire Studios, the production outfit co-founded by Wizards Beyond Waverly Place alum David Henrie, is producing a documentary project with Best Production Company on the popular MMA fighter Ben Askren and has set Rory Karpf (30 for 30: I Hate Christian Laettner) to direct.
The project will be titled Fight for Life: The Story of Ben Askren.
Askren is a popular figure in the martial arts world. He began his career as a wrestler at the University of Missouri, where he won three Big 12 championships and two NCAA Division I championships. He also clinched gold medals at the 2005 Pan American Championships and 2009 World Championships. He reached the quarterfinals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He moved into the octagon after wrestling and had a 19-2 record with one no-contest in 22 MMA fights. He will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame next year.
Earlier this year, however, Askren made headlines after he was struck by a sudden and life-threatening bout of pneumonia, during which he spent time on life support. Askren underwent a double lung transplant, which saved his life.
At the time, Ben Akren’s wife, Amy Askren, wrote in a social media post: “We are forever thankful to the donor and his family. This is the beginning of a new lifestyle for Ben, but every new day he has is a gift. It still doesn’t feel real that he was walking around completely healthy just 5 weeks ago. So much can change so quickly.”
Fight for Life will be produced by David Henrie (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place), CEO of Novo Inspire Studios, Kevin Bartel (The Heart of Sergio Ramos), and James Henrie. Lorenzo Henrie, Amanda Devine, and J.J. Schindler will serve as executive producers for Novo.
They told us the film will be constructed through unprecedented access and never-before-seen footage captured by Amy Askren. The official synopsis reads: The film documents Ben Askren’s near-fatal bout with pneumonia caused by a severe staph infection—an ordeal that led to a coma and, ultimately, required a double lung transplant.
“If everything were stripped away, would you still choose to fight for your life?” Henrie asked in a statement. “This story reaches far beyond the cage — revealing a raw, human, and deeply redemptive journey. It draws from the MMA world with respect, but its power lies in themes everyone understands: resilience, masculinity, family, and the grace that can rise from suffering. And there’s no storyteller more capable of capturing that than Rory Karpf.”