Belal Muhammad Edges Ben Askren in Freestyle Wrestling Duel

Belal Muhammad defeated Ben Askren by decision in the former Olympian's farewell bout, which took place at RAF 11 in Milwaukee.

Despite the loss, Ben Askren can be considered a winner simply for making it to the mat. Over the past year, Askren suffered severe complications from pneumonia, facing death's door multiple times and ultimately requiring a lung transplant to survive. It seemed unlikely he would ever compete again, but after a year of recovery and intense work, the former Olympian prepared for one last fight. The question remained, however, how Askren would perform given his health issues. While he didn't display much of his characteristic unorthodox style, he demonstrated that he still possessed a solid foundation of fundamental skills.

Defense was key for Askren, who neutralized all of Muhammad's attacks. For his part, Muhammad wasn't particularly aggressive – perhaps out of respect for Askren's comeback story, or simply a deference to his wrestling achievements. Still, credit must be given to Askren, who did a phenomenal job in the scramble for grips and prevented Muhammad from establishing any offensive control.

In the second period, Askren finally went on the offensive, attempting to push Muhammad off the mat for a takedown, and then made a second attempt. This forced Muhammad to open up his game, but Askren remained unyielding in defense.

In the final period, Muhammad began to press harder and finally managed to take Askren down, whose energy visibly waned as time progressed. Muhammad capitalized on this, scoring again against his opponent, who was now showing significant signs of exhaustion. Askren did his best to defend until the end, but after Muhammad took the lead, he had no real opportunity to respond and lost the match by decision.

After the bout, Muhammad expressed his respect for Askren, calling on the crowd to give him a standing ovation, then issued a challenge to Colby Covington. Askren then took the microphone to share his final thoughts before symbolically taking off his wrestling shoes in retirement.