Ben Askren hospitalized with severe pneumonia, ‘unable to respond to anything at this time’

Retired UFC veteran Ben Askren is currently hospitalized with serious health issues, including severe pneumonia.

Askren’s wife Amy posted about her husband on Facebook after wrestling insider Pat Mineo first posted about his condition on Twitter while also mentioning that he was dealing with a severe staph infection.

“You may have heard that my husband Ben is going through something,” Amy posted on Facebook. “He developed severe pneumonia which came on very suddenly. He’s currently in the hospital and unable to respond to anything at this time.

“We welcome all prayers for healing and for peace. We are trying to keep life as normal as possible for our children currently and doing our best to support them thoughtfully so please refrain from discussing it with them for now.”

Askren, 40, just recently signed with Real American Freestyle—the new wrestling promotion started by WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and former WWE and WCW executive Eric Bischoff.

At the height of his career, Askren was considered one of the top welterweights in the sport after he won titles in both Bellator and ONE Championship. He eventually joined the UFC as part of perhaps the first and only major trade between organizations when ONE sent him there in exchange for Demetrious Johnson.

Askren’s run in the UFC ended with a 1-2 record including a victory over Robbie Lawler in his debut and then subsequent losses to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia. A few weeks after the Maia fight, Askren announced his retirement from MMA, but he eventually returned to combat sports after booking a boxing match against Jake Paul. That fight ended with Paul scoring a first-round knockout in Askren’s lone boxing appearance.

Since then, Askren has primarily focused on coaching wrestling in his home state of Wisconsin while still dabbling in MMA coverage including a podcast he does with UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.