Ex-UFC star Ben Askren says he 'only died 4 times' as he battled harrowing illness
Former MMA star Ben Askren provided a soundness update more than a month after he was hospitalized with a severe illness that required a double lung transplant Askren posted a video to social media from his hospital bed on Wednesday He noted he didn t remember anything from May to July CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM It was like a movie he noted adding that he read through his wife s journal to catch up on what had happened to him I only died four times where the ticker stopped for about seconds But I got the double lung transplant I made it out to the other side of it Gaining quite a bit of strength Learning to use everything again I was on the scale the preceding day pounds I haven t been pounds since years old So that was a battle I don t remember the bulk of it Amy Askren wrote last week that her husband received a donor for the double lung transplant after falling ill in May CONOR MCGREGOR SUGGESTS INTEREST IN COMPETING IN WHITE HOUSE UFC FIGHT 'COUNT ME IN' The thing that was the majority impactful to me was all the love I felt from everybody and it was almost like I got to be at my own funeral The outpouring of love from the wrestling region was just amazing he reported It felt so good I m more motivated than ever to give back Askren in recent weeks signed with Real American Freestyle the Hulk Hogan venture hoping to popularize professional freestyle wrestling The -year-old was an NCAA champion in the -pound division in and and went on to compete for Group USA in the Olympics He won gold medals at the Pan American Championships and the World Championships He made his full transition to MMA fighting when he debuted in Bellator in He then competed in ONE Championship before taking on the UFC He defeated Robbie Lawler via submission at UFC before he lost to Jorge Masvidal in a high-profile bout In he fought Jake Paul in a boxing match Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter