{"id":39415,"date":"2026-07-21T07:07:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Ben-Askren-had-the-lead-in-final-wrestling-match-after-double-lung-transplant-then-his-body-gave-out-202006"},"modified":"2026-07-21T07:07:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:07:57","slug":"ben-askren-had-the-lead-in-final-wrestling-match-after-double-lung-transplant-then-his-body-gave-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/ben-askren-had-the-lead-in-final-wrestling-match-after-double-lung-transplant-then-his-body-gave-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Askren had the lead in final wrestling match after double lung transplant; then his body gave out."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Former
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> fighter Ben Askren<\/a>
\nsays his body simply ran out of gas in the final wrestling match of
\nhis decorated career.<\/p>\n

Just over a year after surviving a life-threatening bout of
\npneumonia that resulted in a double lung transplant, the former UFC
\nwelterweight contender returned to the mat at RAF 11 in Milwaukee,
\nwhere he dropped a 6-3 decision to ex-UFC champion Belal
\nMuhammad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ben Askren explains final wrestling loss to Belal Muhammad<\/h2>\n

Askren had a dream start after taking a lead through the opening
\ntwo periods. However, Muhammad rallied in the third, scoring a
\ntakedown and reversal before pulling away late. Reflecting on the
\nmatch, Askren told FloWrestling that his body could not keep
\nup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe match was going relatively well,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAt the end of
\nthe second period, when I walked over to my corner, I\u2019m like,
\n\u2018sh*t! My legs have nothing left.\u2019 I\u2019m gonna have a hard time being
\nin my stance. I\u2019m gonna have a hard time not getting pushed
\naround.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muhammad then raised the pace of the match, which further caused
\nproblems for Askren.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came out really hard, and I was like, \u2018sh*t! My body doesn\u2019t
\nhave it left in me.\u2019 I did the best I could,\u201d he added. \u201cI knew my
\nlegs don\u2019t have any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

This defeat marked the end of Askren\u2019s competitive wrestling
\ncareer. He confirmed this to Chael Sonnen<\/a>
\nin the post-match interview after his match.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, it\u2019s my last time on the mat,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t find
\na better place to do this. I worked hard over the last year. It was
\ntough. There were times I couldn\u2019t feed myself; I couldn\u2019t stand up
\nor go to the bathroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

What a legend @Benaskren<\/a>
\npic.twitter.com\/Wur9Se527X<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FloWrestling (@FloWrestling)
\nJuly 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center>
\n

<\/p>\n
\n

Ben Askren<\/a>
\njust retired after his wrestling match against Belal
\nMuhammad<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single day I wake up and thank God for the chance to do it
\none more time.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/9QBe8n6Dmt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Happy Punch (@HappyPunch)
\nJuly 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Ben Askren says his body simply ran out of gas in the final wrestling match of his decorated career. Just over a year after surviving a life-threatening bout of pneumonia that resulted in a double lung transplant, the former UFC welterweight contender returned to the mat at RAF 11 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}