Jake Paul rival who was in coma will combat once more after immense physique transformation

The former UFC star will return to action again almost a year after undergoing surgery

Former UFC star Ben Askren is set to make his comeback to competitive action nearly a year after undergoing life-changing surgery.

Last year, the 41-year-old was rushed to hospital suffering from pneumonia as a result of a staph infection. But weeks later, it was confirmed that he had a successful double lung transplant surgery.

After nearly two months he was able to recover at home. During his time in hospital, Askren lost 50lb over 45 days. The American has since been making sporadic appearances, a welcome sight for fans within the world of combat sports.

Askren returned to training shortly before Christmas and is now expected to make a return to competition. He is scheduled to face former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in a freestyle wrestling match at RAF 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee.

Speaking of his decision to make a stunning comeback, Askren said: “I love wrestling, I love what [RAF] are doing. I’ve been coaching for three months or so now on regular practices, and when they told me they were doing a show in Milwaukee on July 18 – my birthday – something spoke to me and said, ‘I need to wrestle in that.’

“So I’ve been doing my best every single day in training to get in shape, and it’s feeling really good. I’m in the wrestling room, wrestling with the guys, not super hard yet, but I’m doing things. I told them last week, ‘I want to wrestle,’ and they said, ‘OK, if you want to wrestle, we support it.'”

While many may recognise Askren for his achievements in the cage, he was actually an accomplished wrestler before making the transition to MMA. The Iowa native secured numerous medals while representing the USA before his professional MMA debut in 2009.

After his debut, Askren experienced a rapid ascent through the rankings – claiming a world title in just his seventh bout. He went on to defend his Bellator belt four times before switching to ONE FC. In merely his second contest under the ONE banner, he captured another world championship.

Askren defended the prized gold on multiple occasions before making the move to the UFC. After a triumphant debut against Robbie Lawler in 2019, he stepped away from MMA following consecutive losses to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia.

Nevertheless, two years later, he tested his fortune in the boxing world, but was stopped in the opening round by Jake Paul. On the other hand, Muhammad has been very much in action since Askren’s last showing.

The 37-year-old is set to face off against Gabriel Bonfim this Saturday night. The former UFC champion hasn’t stepped into the ring since his loss to Ian Machado Garry in November.

July’s bout with Askren won’t be the American-Palestinian’s first foray into RAF – he made his promotional debut in December, suffering a technical fall defeat to David Car.