Former UFC fighter, MMA champ and Olympic wrestler Ben Askren is back in the hospital, weeks after he underwent a double lung transplant surgery in June.
Askren, 41, shared an update on his health on Monday, revealing he had been checked back into a hospital following a post-surgery check-up.
“Well, as you guys can probably tell, I’m not at home any more unfortunately,” Askren said in a video posted to Instagram. “I had my first check up this morning. They didn’t like the way the last chest tube looked. [They] thought it was infected, put me on some antibiotics, and then did a few X-rays. And hopefully we get this solved fast.”
Askren received a double lung transplant in June, his wife, Amy, announced June 30. He had been hospitalized since June 7 due to severe pneumonia caused by a staph infection. The former University of Missouri wrestler had been in critical condition and on a ventilator and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) while awaiting a lung transplant, according to Amy.
“We are forever thankful to the donor and his family,” Amy wrote in a Facebook post. “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. Please keep Ben in your prayers that his body welcomes the new lungs as if they were his own. I am constantly in awe of all the people carrying us through right now. I can’t wait to tell Ben all about it.”
Askren retired from MMA in 2019, finishing his career with a 19-2 record, including 1-2 in UFC. He was also a two-time NCAA Division I champion wrestler for Missouri and was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling team. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Askren won welterweight titles in Bellator MMA and One Championship before fighting in three UFC bouts in 2019.
Askren and Amy have three children together and live in his native Wisconsin.
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