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Who Is Ben Askren? 5 Things to Know About the Ex-MMA Fighter

Ben stepped down from professional mixed martial arts in 2019, and he suffered from a serious health crisis in 2025. Learn more about the decorated ex-fighter and wrestler.

Frankly, I’m retiring from everything,” Ben announced on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, per ESPN, in November 2019. After completing his hip surgery in 2020, Ben is now getting ready to “return to [his] roots” in freestyle wrestling by competing against the legendary Floyd Mayweather after his match with Jake, he announced in Feb. 2021. In June 2025, Ben’s wife, Amy Askren, revealed he was hospitalized from a severe bout of pneumonia.

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