Ben Askren is making his return to competition at RAF 11, and the announcement comes just shy of one full year since he had a double lung transplant.
Askren made the stunning reveal during Monday’s appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” The former Bellator and ONE Championship titleholder announced that he will be wrestling former UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad. It’s an announcement that has shocked the MMA and freestyle wrestling communities as many have been in awe of Askren’s recovery.
Speaking to Helwani, “Funky” revealed what led him to be a part of the RAF 11 card.
“Something spoke to me and said, ‘I need to wrestle on that,’” Askren recalled. “So, I’ve been doing my very best every single day to train and to get in shape and it’s feeling really good. I’m in the wrestling room. I’m wrestling with the guys. Not super hard yet, but I’m doing things. So, I told them last week, ‘Hey, I want to wrestle.’ They said, ‘Ok, if you want to wrestle we support it.’”
Askren will turn 42 years old on the day he shares the mat with Muhammad. He also has history in Milwaukee having trained at Roufusport under the late Duke Roufus. The stars have aligned for Askren to once again get that rush of being an athlete.
It’s a period of gratitude for “Funky,” who was once considered to be the best 170-pounder outside UFC prior to joining the promotion in 2018. Askren went from having a nightmare situation that could have turned fatal to climbing his way back to the wrestling mat. For the former world champion, he’d rather not allow tough circumstances to bring him down.
“Well, I’m going to wrestle,” Askren declared.
What do you make of Ben Askren’s decision to return to competition against Belal Muhammad at RAF 11? Sound off in the comments below.
