Outside Source
Askren will square off against Belal Muhammad at Real American Freestyle 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Askren initially announced the news on ““The Ariel Helwani Show,” and RAF later confirmed the booking via social media.
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“I was the first signee for Real American Freestyle back in May of 2025 prior to all my issues,” Askren said. “I love wrestling. I love what they’re doing. I’ve been back coaching for three months or so right now on regular practices….They told me that they were doing a show in Milwaukee — I asked them to come to Milwaukee because I knew we would knock it out of the park.
“But it was July 18, and it was my birthday and I thought something spoke to me and said I need to wrestle on that. 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. I mean, not not super hard yet, but I’m doing things.”
Getting His Life Back
Last May, Askren was hospitalized with pneumonia and was placed on a ventilator as he came close to death on multiple occasions. He was ultimately approved for a double lung transplant and has since been on a gradual road to recovery. Askren initially lost around 50 pounds in less than two months, but more recently, he inquired about getting back to wrestling.
“I think it started as I was getting better,” Askren said. “I told my doctor, ‘Hey, man, I I want to go back to coaching practices. I want to go back to my life. I want to go back to doing what I love.’ He said, ‘You can. You have to be a little smarter. You’d [have to] to take a few more precautions.”
A a two-time NCAA national champion wrestler at the University of Missouri and a 2008 Olympian, Askren is a significant figure in the wrestling community. “Funky” later made a name for himself with stints in Bellator MMA, ONE Championship and theUFC before retiring from MMA in 2019.
Muhammad, a former UFC welterweight champion, made his RAF debut in December, losing to David Carr via technical fall. “Remember the Name” is scheduled to meet Gabriel Bonfim in the UFC Fight Night 278 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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