MMAMMA NEWS

Fans React After Ben Askren Leaves Hospital – ‘Brilliant, Great To See'

hasib

23 July 2025

Fans have reacted to the news that Ben Askren has been released from the hospital after a 58-day battle with life-threatening pneumonia complications.

Askren required a double lung transplant, as it transpired that his condition was life-threatening. The ex-Bellator and ONE champion disclosed that he lost 50 pounds, flatlined four times, and has no memory of the stretch of events from May 28 to July 2. His wife, Amy, said he came dangerously close to dying on multiple occasions. To make matters worse, Askren’s insurance initially refused to cover the transplant. This resulted in the likes of Jake Paul and Dana White rallying around the fighter to offer their support. Now home, Askren says he’s relearning how to walk and rebuild basic motor skills.

Reaction

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"Day 59, I’m out! With my beautiful wife supportive. That was a long journey and it’s not over because I still can’t really walk. I have to re-teach myself to do that among many other things. I guess I can make light of it because it was me and I don’t really remember it.

"I’ve said this already in one of the videos but the support you guys gave me, whether it was setting up a GoFundMe, whether it was helping my kids and wife get through it, I had friends come from all over the country just to hang out for a couple of days. It meant so much. It was so great to have all the support and all the love. “Hopefully I’m not in this situation again for a really, really, really long time. I plan on living a while. So thank you guys again," Askren stated

"Surgery was 24 or 25 days ago; it was hard. And I said this already in one of the other videos, but the support you guys gave me, whether it was setting up a GoFundMe, whether it was helping my kids or wife get through it — I had friends from come all over the country to just hang out for a couple of days — it meant so much," Askren said