Ben Askren, the retired mixed martial arts fighter, was hospitalized with a severe case of pneumonia, which resulted in a double lung transplant. One month after his wife, Amy Askren, shared her husband’s medical scare, he shared an update about his health in an Instagram video — claiming that he “died four times.”
In June 2025, Amy asked fans for their prayers and noted in one of her Facebook posts that Ben “is the healthiest guy I know, and I never could have expected this.” Weeks later, he explained in his video that he had “no recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened.”
“I just read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie,” Ben said from his hospital bed. “It’s ridiculous. I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.”
Below, see all updates on Ben’s health and find out what happened to him.
Ben’s pneumonia battle worsened to the point where he needed a double lung transplant. In the weeks prior to his operation, Amy updated fans on his condition. On June 7, 2025, she wrote via Facebook, “You may have heard that my husband Ben is going through something. He developed severe pneumonia which came on very suddenly. He’s currently in the hospital and unable to respond to anything at this time.”
