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Ben Askren exposes lying celebrities for false surgery donations

Originally posted on MMA Weekly | By Joshua Ryan | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 3:56 PM ET

Ben Askren's life-threatening battle with pneumonia saw an entire community come together in hopes Askren made it through alive. However, it seems not everybody's intentions were pure.

During the height of his MMA career, 'Funky' was widely regarded as one of the best middleweights in the world. Despite being an Olympic wrestler with championship status in both ONE and Bellator, the 41-year-old recently underwent his most difficult battle in a hospital bed.

As he was enduring his serious health scare, many people supported Ben Askren. Celebrities across the globe publicly showed up when it mattered the most, though some of those reported donations were false.

According to Askren, several people who claimed to have made huge donations lied, instead using his name to promote their false good gestures.

"A lot of people have been incredibly generous," Askren wrote on social media after being released from hospital. "But any celebrities saying they paid it all are lying."

A lot of people have been incredibly generous but any celebrities saying they paid it all are lying https://t.co/N2BaFbh0F7
— Funky (@Benaskren) July 22, 2025

On his way home from the hospital with his wife, an emotional Ben Askren thanked those who stayed by his side and supported him through his struggle.

"Man, that was a long journey, and it's not over because I still can't really walk. I've got to reteach myself to do that among many other things..."

"The support you guys gave me, whether it was sending a GoFundMe, whether it was helping my kids and wife get through it; I had friends come from all over the country just to like hang out for a couple of days. It meant so much."

"It was so great to have all the support and all the love. Hopefully I'm not in that situation again for a really long time. I plan on living a while."

"So, thank you guys again."

Watch Ben Askren's heartfelt video to his fans below.