Ben Askren has booked his first competition since a severe pneumonia battle that left him hospitalized for over a month, lost him 50 pounds and ended with a double-lung transplant. The former MMA star will wrestle Belal Muhammad in the co-main event of RAF 11, a cruiserweight bout announced Monday.
The booking puts Askren back on a mat for the first time since the near-death illness that he has described as dying four times before the transplant. It also marks his debut under the RAF banner, with the event set for UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wis., and streaming live on FOX Nation.
For Askren, this is more than a scheduled match. It is the first time he has competed since retiring from MMA in 2019, and the only time he has fought in any sport since then was a boxing bout against Jake Paul that ended in a KO. That history is why the announcement landed with so much force on Monday: this is not a novelty booking, but a return after a body-breaking stretch that could easily have ended his career for good.
Belal Muhammad brings his own recent history to the matchup. He will be making his second appearance at RAF after competing at RAF 04 in December, where he lost to David Carr. The 37-year-old is also scheduled to fight Gabriel Bonfim in the main event of UFC Fight Night 278 this Saturday, which gives the RAF booking an unusual crossover feel even before Askren’s health makes it one of the most closely watched returns in recent wrestling memory.
What happens next is simple and hard at the same time: Askren has to show that a man who was out of competition for years and went through a transplant can still be competitive against an active fighter like Muhammad. The match in Milwaukee will answer that far more clearly than the announcement did.
