

The world is concerned again with the news of Ben Askren‘s hospitalization. First admitted in late May 2025 with suspicion of pneumonia, he was later diagnosed with a pneumothorax and had to undergo a double lung transplant. And now, just when the fighting community took a sigh of relief, after Askren was out of the hospital and rehabilitating himself, a new concern fell upon the world. During his first follow-up visit, the doctors found that his chest was infected again. So, he had to be hospitalized once more, with an ongoing antibiotic therapy.
Amidst all that, a famed doctor, Mikhail Oskarovich Varshavsk, has revealed some new insights into Askren’s post-operative therapy.
Dr. Mike recently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show. Therein, the famed MMA journalist expressed his concern for the former MMA champion. Helwani reflected on ‘Funky’s latest health update and pointed out that Askren was “dramatically different” from how he looked before his crisis. Being hospitalized for more than a month, with no consciousness and a liquid diet, certainly does that to people. But Helwani’s worry was, “What can life be like for him now with a double lung transplant?”
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The Russian family doctor put the entire blame on graft-versus-host disorders. To prevent rejection of the graft and unwanted reaction from the body’s immune system, transplanted patients are usually administered immunosuppressants. And the suppressed immune system fails to ward off infectious pathogens. The doctor answered, “I mean, it’s gonna be a drastically different life than before. He’s gonna be on medications likely for the rest of his life.”
He continued, “I’m not his doctor, so I don’t know his exact condition, but when you’re taking certain medications after a transplant, it usually is to calm your immune system to prevent it from rejecting the transplanted organ. When you do that, you can open yourself up to opportunistic and other infections. So, you can be more likely at a higher risk to develop an infection.”

USA Today via Reuters
MMA: UFC 239-Masvidal vs Askren, Jul 6, 2019 Las Vegas, NV, USA Ben Askren blue gloves is assessed by medical personnel after being knocked out with a knee by Jorge Masvidal not pictured at T-Mobile Arena. Jorge Masvidal set a new record for the fastest knockout in UFC history with five seconds. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports, 06.07.2019 20:17:04, 13012607, T-Mobile Arena, Jorge Masvidal, UFC, Ben Askren, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xStephenxR.xSylvaniex 13012607
Still, hopefully, the current scenario for Ben Askren is just a temporary hiccup. After all, he has survived a collapsed lung and got out of the hospital after being admitted for 59 days. But did you know that he almost died about four times during that period?
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What was it like for Ben Askren to be in such a critical condition for almost 2 months?
In his first health update after waking up from his long slumber, Askren shared, “Whenever this is all the way over, I actually just read through my wife’s journal ’cause I don’t remember anything from May 28th to July 2. No recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened. We’ll kind of go through it all. I just read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie. It’s ridiculous. So, I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.”
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Can Ben Askren's fighting spirit help him overcome this health battle and inspire others?
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The two-month-long hospital stay was visibly tough on Askren, just like Helwani pointed out. That meant he lost a significant amount of weight. ‘Funky’ added, “Learning to use everything again, I was actually on a scale yesterday and 147 pounds. I haven’t been 147 pounds since 15 years old. So, I lost like 50 pounds in a 45-day period. Man, that was a battle.”
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Before getting back to the hospital because of the pulmonary infection, Askren was under rehabilitation. He was learning how to walk, how to stabilize himself… Basically, he has to relearn everything that seemed normal before. And his strength? He seemed to struggle while curling the lightest dumbbell.
But now, first, Askren needs to come out of the hospital and beat the infection once again. After that, he’ll have to take extreme care of himself for the rest of his life.
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Can Ben Askren's fighting spirit help him overcome this health battle and inspire others?