Outside Source
Askren is scheduled to face Belal Muhammad in the co-main event at RAF 11 in front of his home fans in Milwaukee. Most thought Askren would never compete again when he was battling a life-threatening case of pneumonia last year. The Olympic gold medalist looked nothing like himself after undergoing a double lung transplant exactly a year ago. However, Askren recovered well and gradually returned to the wrestling mats at his training academy.
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UFC veteran Ben Askren returns to wrestling after surviving a major medical scare
Currently a commentator and ambassador at RAF, Askren had no plans to compete while urging the promotion to come to his hometown. However, he couldn’t resist the idea when he learned that RAF would come to Milwaukee on his birthday.
Askren has confirmed that he will hang up his wrestling shoes for good after his match against Muhammad this weekend.
“I don’t want to do any more matches. This is it for me,” Askren told MMA Fighting. “I never really even had the idea. I did encourage RAF to come to Milwaukee because we do have a strong wrestling base here… I knew we would sell a bunch of tickets. So, I said, ‘Hey guys, Milwaukee’s great in the summer; come to Milwaukee.’ We’ll sell a bunch of tickets; we’ll probably be able to attract the Chicago crowd too, because they had a great show there last November or whenever it was. And when they told me it was going to be on my birthday, something just said, ‘Ben, get out there and wrestle. It’s a year after your transplant. It’s your birthday; it’s your hometown. Go do it.’”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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