Ben Askren vs. Belal Muhammad

Belal Muhammad has two very different assignments waiting for him this summer. First comes a UFC main event against Gabriel Bonfim. Six weeks later, there will be no cage, no punches and no five-round welterweight fight. He will step onto a wrestling mat in Milwaukee and meet Ben Askren.

Real American Freestyle has booked Askren against Muhammad for RAF 11 on July 18 at Panther Arena. The match brings Askren back into competition after a health crisis that kept him far away from sport in 2025, while Muhammad takes the booking in the middle of an active UFC career.

For Askren, the choice of opponent is telling. He did not return for a ceremonial appearance or an easy exhibition. He picked a former UFC champion whose entire fighting career has been built around pressure, balance and control. The rules will favour Askren’s deepest background, but the night will not be built to protect him.

Askren returns to his first sport

Askren’s public identity eventually became tied to MMA, Bellator, ONE Championship and the UFC, but wrestling came first. He was a two-time NCAA Division I champion, represented the United States at the Olympics and developed the unusual grappling style that later made him such an awkward opponent in the cage.

That is the sport he is choosing for this appearance. Askren is not announcing an MMA comeback and is not reopening a UFC chapter. His return is scheduled under freestyle wrestling rules, in Wisconsin, against an opponent who understands positional fighting but did not build his reputation on the same kind of wrestling résumé.

The booking arrives after a year in which competition was not a realistic priority for Askren. He underwent a double lung transplant during his recovery from a severe illness in 2025. RAF 11 now gives him a controlled but genuine competitive target: one match, close to home, in the sport where he has always looked most natural.

• Ben Askren will face Belal Muhammad in freestyle wrestling at RAF 11.
• The event is scheduled for July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• This is not an MMA bout and does not mark Askren’s return to the UFC.
• Muhammad remains an active UFC fighter and competes against Gabriel Bonfim first.

Muhammad has UFC business first

Muhammad cannot build his immediate training schedule entirely around Askren. On June 6, he headlines UFC Vegas 118 against Gabriel Bonfim at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. That fight carries far more weight for his current career than a later wrestling appearance.

The former welterweight champion is trying to stop a difficult run after losing his belt and suffering another defeat in his next outing. Bonfim enters as a rising threat with the chance to use Muhammad’s name as the biggest result of his UFC career. Before Belal can think seriously about Milwaukee, he has to deal with a dangerous contender inside the octagon.

Once that fight is finished, the Askren matchup presents a different problem. Muhammad’s UFC success has always depended on wearing opponents down through repeated pressure, clinch work and control. Against Askren, those strengths move into a narrower setting where the American spent his entire early career becoming elite.

A hard opponent for Askren’s night

Askren could have returned against an opponent with less name value and less physical edge. Instead, he gets Muhammad, a fighter still preparing for UFC-level competition and still used to training under pressure. The matchup is not equal in wrestling credentials, but it is serious enough to remove any feeling of a staged welcome-back appearance.

Muhammad has already tested himself in RAF, and another outing against Askren gives him a much more recognisable assignment. A win would be meaningful because of Askren’s wrestling history, even after the long absence. A loss would not affect his UFC record, but it would still become part of a summer in which his name is attached to two very visible contests.

For Askren, there is no need to pretend this is the beginning of a new run. He has already had careers most fighters never come close to having. RAF 11 offers something more specific: a chance to compete again, in his home region, against an opponent strong enough to make the result feel real.

The cage belongs to Muhammad on June 6. The mat belongs to Askren’s history on July 18. By putting those two paths together, RAF has booked a match that does not need artificial rivalry to draw attention. One man is still fighting through the UFC schedule. The other is returning to the sport that first made his name.