Ben Askren is ready for the second act of his story as he prepares to face Belal Muhammad at RAF 11.
When you talk about inspirational figures in combat sports, Ben Askren has to feature in the conversation. His ability to fight his way back from a double-lung transplant has been nothing short of phenomenal, and now, he’s getting ready to go one step further by competing in wrestling again.
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Askren will go head to head with former UFC champion Belal Muhammad, and while the odds may seemingly be stacked against him, Ben is ready to get out there and prove that he still has what it takes to mix it up with some of the UFC’s finest in the grappling/wrestling department.
In a recent interview, Askren had the following to say about this decision.
Askren discusses incredible wrestling comeback
“I wanted to pick someone who was really tough, but he doesn’t have super high-level wrestling credentials,” Askren explained. “That wasn’t his background; that’s not what he did. I know I couldn’t compete with the high-level wrestlers at this point in my life, but I think I could still compete against someone really good. I didn’t want to go to the other side and take someone who was too easy because that annoys me. Some of the wrestlers at RAF want easy matchups, and it’s annoying.”
“One thing that spoke to me when they said July 18 in Milwaukee was, I think of it like I lived the first life, and now I’m doing a second act because I don’t know if I totally should’ve made it,” Askren said. “But I think, what is my purpose moving forward, and I think part of my purpose is being able to inspire people to do hard things and show them that they could do it.
“You guys all watched me on my deathbed last year. You guys watched me go through something incredibly hard. I think the way I’ve been able to bounce back from it has been inspiring to many people, and I’m not going to stop doing that.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
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