MMA icon Ben Askren is “unresponsive” in hospital after being struck down by extreme pneumonia.

The previous MMA and wrestling star infamously got here out of retirement to face Jake Paul in a boxing match in 2021.

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Askren, a former Olympian, was lively in MMA for over a decade.

Information of his hospitalisation broke throughout UFC 316 in New Jersey on Saturday night time.

Funky has not been lively within the squared circle since his exhibition with Paul nearly 4 years in the past.

However he’s fondly remembered in wrestling circles as one of many biggest grapplers of all time.

Askren, 40, is presently battling “a sudden and extreme onset of pneumonia”.

His spouse Amy penned a heartfelt replace on her husband’s situation.

She wrote on Fb: “You’ll have heard that my husband Ben goes by one thing.

“He developed extreme pneumonia, which got here on very out of the blue.

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“He’s presently within the hospital and unable to answer something at the moment.

“We welcome all prayers for therapeutic and for peace.

“We try to maintain life as regular as doable for our youngsters presently and doing our greatest to assist them thoughtfully, so please chorus from discussing it with them for now.”

Followers have been fast to ship their properly needs to the Askren household.

Former UFC champ Henry Cejudo wrote on X: “Pray for Ben Askren.”

One fan wrote: “You bought this Ben, preserve preventing.”

Whereas one other commented: “Wishing the very best for Ben Askren and his household. Ben was an modern and inventive wrestler in his prime and now he builds up a number of the greatest wrestlers America has ever seen. The wrestling world owes a debt of gratitude to a person like him.”

He’s presently within the hospital and unable to answer something at the moment.

Amy Askren

Askren started wrestling on the age of simply six.

He competed for the Missouri Tigers in school, twice turning into a D1 nationwide champion.

Askren was a member of the 2008 US Olympics wrestling crew, the place he misplaced within the quarter-finals to Cuba’s Ivan Fundora on factors.

Following his Olympic journey, the Iowa-native transitioned into MMA.

He boasted 19 wins from 22 MMA professional fights, along with his first loss coming in an notorious flying kick KO by Jorge Masvidal 5 seconds into their bout at UFC 239.

Askren’s extremely publicised boxing bout with YouTuber Paul noticed 500,000 PPV buys.

Paul, then aged 24, gained the bout through TKO in a single minute and 59 seconds of the primary spherical.