MMAWeekly 2025 Fighter of the Year: Ben Askren

The Fighter of the Year is typically a fighter who rose to the championship, or strung together an impressive list of wins over top-tier talent. It's usually a fighter whose performances stand above the rest.  

But sometimes the resilience and unwavering determination shown outside of the ring or cage overshadows anything accomplished in it. That's what happened in 2025. 

Former UFC fighter and Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren didn't spend 2025 preparing for a next match. He spent it fighting for his life. In one of the greatest comeback stories in combat sports history, Askren defied the odds. 

In May, Askren was healthy and had plans for the rest of the year. Those plans did not include months in the hospital and undergoing a life changing double lung transplant surgery, but that's the hand life dealt him.

Askren went to the hospital with back pain. He was actually suffering from "severe pneumonia" and in dire condition.   

For 59 days, Askren was hospitalized and he doesn't remember 35 of them. He has no recollection of anything from May 28 until July 2 and died four times during the battle for his life. Released after two months, Askren found himself back in the hospital just six days later with an infection.

Throughout the harrowing ordeal, Askren and his family provided regular updates on his condition and recovery. He was frail and unable to walk without assistance, but was determined to do whatever it took to improve. Despite being faced with enormous physical challenges and lifestyle changes, Askren stayed positive and focused on recovery. He continues to improve. 

Askren retired from MMA in 2019. He returned to combat sports in April 2021 in a boxing match against Jake Paul. He hosted a popular podcast on YouTube with former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier before falling ill.