Ben Askren dealt 'devastating setback' as friend gives worrying health update on ex-UFC fighter

Ben Askren's friend has provided an update on the condition of the former UFC fighter after being hospitalised following 'severe' staph infection.

Askren was hospitalised due to 'severe' pneumonia stemming from a staph infection earlier this month, which left him in a critical condition and on a ventilator.

According to his wife, Amy, the 40-year-old is on the transplant list to try to find new lungs.

Mark Bader, a friend of Askren, has since revealed that his insurance company has reportedly refused to cover the costs of a life-saving double lung transplant.

Speaking on The Bader Show, he said: "Saturday, I got a message from my friend Rye... he got a message from Amy, Ben’s wife, that, 'Hey, things went south. We’re in the hospital. Ben’s on a ventilator'."

Ben Askren fought in the UFC during his decorated MMA career. Image: Getty

Bader added: "His wife Amy, his brother Max, and his mom met with the doctors... they basically was like look it there’s a chance we could do this without the transplant but he would need to be on oxygen and during the day and the ventilator at night and any of us that know Ben like that’s not an option.

"The insurance won’t cover the lung transplant and that’s extremely costly astronomical costs associated with that."

Ben Askren with his wife and children. Image: Instagram/Amy Askren

Bader insists Askren didn't 'blow' his money that he earned during his professional MMA career, claiming all the money he made is 'tied up' to his businesses.

He also claimed the former UFC welterweight title challenger's insurance company denied coverage for the transplant, with the cost of a lung transplant in the United States ranging from £300,000 to £400,000.

"I don’t want people to think that Ben was this fighter who made this money and has blown it... the money that this guy’s made is like tied up, invested back into the sport.... it’s in his businesses, it’s in his building, it’s in the former wrestlers he’s hiring," he continued.

"The amount of lives that Ben has impacted is seemingly immeasurable... not just the amount of lives he’s impacted, but the amount of impact he’s had on all these different lives.

"He asked for coffee and wrestling results... it sounds like he was, you know, rolled his eyes at something made a face at something he would make a face at. So like he’s his personality back a little bit."

Askren cannot speak yet but there is hope for him to do so 'while on a trach'.

But he mouthed a request for coffee (which he cannot have) in a sign of improvement after false reports circulated that he had died.