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Ben Askren has been hospitalized in recent days with a severe health issue, and a former rival, Darren Till has offered his support during this difficult time. While the two were never locked inside of the cage together, there was a time when it seemed almost inevitable that Askren and Till would clash.
When it became known he was being traded to the UFC, Askren began calling out the former UFC welterweight title challenger in late 2018. He referred to Till as an 'immature punk kid' who Askren would turn into a 'grown man.'
Fast forward to the present day though and Askren is battling a serious case of pneumonia that came on from a staph infection.
Darren Till joined the likes of Henry Cejudo as well as Chris Weidman in sending well wishes to the former ONE Championship and Bellator titleholder when he said:
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"Heard Ben Askren is in some kind of condition that's quite heavy. Hope he is ok & his family. As fighters, we all have complete crazy beef & yes most of the time it's real & blah blah."
He added:
"But at the end of the day we all have families and we all started doing this to be champions, fighters & to make money. So besides all the talking and s**t etc... I always hope everyone of us is healthy and wealthy. Hope he pulls through!"
Check out Darren Till's encouraging words to Ben Askren amid the latter's health issues below
Ben Askren, Darren Till, and how UFC on ESPN 5 sent both on separate paths
Ben Askren and Darren Till seemed like they would almost invariably clash in 2019 but some major happenings in March of that year dramatically shifted things around. Askren secured a controversial UFC debut victory with his first-round submission ove former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 235.
Ben Askren made sure he was live in attendance for the UFC on ESPN 5 main event which featured Darren Till taking on Jorge Masvidal in 2019. The decorated Olympic wrestler had boots on the ground in London to campaign to fight the victor of that headliner.
While the Iowa native seemed confident that Till would be his next opponent, Masvidal would knock out the UK combatant in the second round. 'Gamebred' then secured the Askren fight booking for himself that July, and score the fastest KO (5 seconds) in UFC history.
