Ben Askren Emotional Over Life-Changing Year, 2026 Will ‘Look Different’

Ben Askren‘s life turned upside down in 2025 … he battled severe pneumonia that resulted in a 59-day hospital stay and a double lung transplant … but thankfully, he tells TMZ Sports he’s going into the New Year moving in a “positive direction.”

The former MMA star said at times it feels like his health scare was a “bad dream.” While there’s not much he remembers from those days … he says there are still lessons to take away from the whole ordeal … citing a book called “Finish Empty” by Josh Metcalf, which gave him a good perspective.

“I kind of died once, you know, like for all intents and purposes, left Earth for 40 days,” Askren said. “I had no real communication to anyone. I had no recollection of anything. So I get to kind of reflect on like, okay, had I not woken back up? How do I feel about what I did prior to this time?”

The 41-year-old said he felt really proud of it all … and acknowledged that while there are things he plans on changing … he looks forward to acting on those lessons learned towards his 2026.

So, what’s next for Ben Askren?

Well, there isn’t much lined up right now — but as he continues to get healthy — he believes he can finally start to work on making plans.

“They are going to look significantly different,” Askren said. “For example, I can’t go to the wrestling tournaments with my kid, you know, my own biological children. I would like to, which would be very normal. So it’s going to look different. But I feel like I’m finally at that point where I can kind of take a deep breath and easily accomplish the things I need to in the day.”