“Update #10—PROGRESS,” read the message on Ben Askren’s latest Instagram post, shared two days ago. The video, showing the former NCAA wrestling champion progressing through various physiotherapy and recovery procedures, has already touched thousands of hearts. A week earlier, while lying in his hospital bed, Askren expressed his gratitude. “So I consider it an opportunity to be alive and be here still,” he said. Given his situation, he could have easily given up. But being the warrior he is, Ben Askren decided to face it head-on. Placed on a ventilator after being diagnosed with acute pneumonia caused by a staph infection, the Olympian underwent a double lung transplant. Although he briefly returned home, he was soon hospitalized again due to a suspected chest infection.
Askren’s medical condition has raised concerns across the combat sports world. It prompted several well-known figures to comment on the former UFC fighter’s situation. An interesting twist saw even Darren Till wish him a speedy recovery. Fans may recall, many summers ago, Ben Askren had called out the English fighter. However, while he expressed his best wishes, Till also acknowledged how this debilitating condition could impact Askren’s future in combat sports.
Darren Till has been making his mark in crossover boxing. Three years ago, he suffered a string of losses, the last coming at the hands of Dricus Du Plessis. The South African will defend his middleweight championship against Khamzat Chimaev this coming Saturday. And two weeks later, on August 30 at Manchester Arena, fans will find out whether Till fares better with 10 oz gloves when he faces former UFC champion Luke Rockhold on Misfits 22.
So ahead of the match, his third this year, Till spoke with ‘Seconds Out.’ With about five minutes left in the interview, the reporter asked the Liverpudlian about Ben Askren. “I think it started from a staph infection,” Darren Till noted, before sharing that he had also suffered from the contagion while training in Brazil. He expressed his best wishes for Askren, saying, “I hope that he makes a full recovery.”
However, Till couldn’t help but acknowledge what many already fear: Askren’s potential return to combat sports. “I don’t think he’ll make a recovery to any type of combat sport,” Till remarked, adding that Askren could possibly make it as a coach “because of, obviously, his credentials from wrestling.”
Overall, Darren Till wished Ben Askren and his family strength to bear through this ordeal. It’s something ‘no one should have to go through,’ Till stated, before praising Askren for his intelligence.
Former rivals reconcile, back Ben Askren in tough times
That’s significant coming from a fighter about whom Askren once said, “I got him hook, line, and sinker.” But there’s been an outpouring of support for the 2005 Pan American champion. Though they never fought, the beef between Askren and Kamaru Usman has been well-known. But it seems the two bitter rivals finally quashed it.
While recovering from a lung transplant, Ben Askren received a message from the ‘Nigerian Nightmare.’ “@Benaskren happy you’re doing well, my man. “One day at a time you’ll be back,” wrote Usman. The message came after Askren reportedly hushed a visiting friend who tried to cheer him up with the usual ‘Marty from Nebraska’ jokes.
Ben Askren has already been running a wrestling academy. A new generation of wrestlers will benefit from his vast knowledge. Hopefully, he recovers well and, as Darren Till said, returns to teaching youngsters the best values and lessons through wrestling.
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