Ex-MMA star Ben Askren battling 'severe pneumonia' in hospital, wife says

Ben Askren a former mixed martial arts competitor who fought in the Olympics and UFC was hospitalized in recent months with a severe illness his wife commented in a post on social media Amy Askren revealed that her husband was fighting off a sickness in a post on Facebook on Saturday CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM You may have heard that my husband Ben is going through something He developed severe pneumonia which came on very suddenly she wrote He s in the present 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 viable for our children now and doing our best to assistance them thoughtfully so please refrain from discussing it with them for now Ben Askren in recent months signed with Real American Freestyle the Hulk Hogan venture hoping to popularize professional freestyle wrestling UFC LEGEND KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV REFUSES TO SHAKE HANDS WITH FEMALE SPORTSCASTER IN AWKWARD MOMENTAskren was an NCAA champion in the -pound division in and and went on to compete for Crew USA in the Olympics He won gold medals in 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 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