After Nearly Dying, Former UFC Star Ben Askren Promotes Crypto Scam

Former UFC star Ben Askren had been out of the hospital for less than a day before he promoted an apparent crypto scam—a Solana meme coin that “rug pulled” its investors only hours after it launched. 

The token—dubbed “FUNKY,” Askren’s nickname in both wrestling and professional mixed martial arts—appeared to come as part of a paid promotion through notorious celebrity coin creator Sahil Arora, who has made a name for himself through similar schemes.

Since late May, Askren has been battling a severe case of pneumonia, which required a double lung transplant earlier this month. The ex-Olympic wrestler’s condition was so dire that he claims to have no memory of the entire month of June and to have “died four times.”

Fortunately, his condition has significantly improved, and on Tuesday, he finally left the hospital after almost two months. Less than 24 hours later, he promoted a Solana meme coin, which saw very little success and eventually tanked. The token fell to zero after the token’s deployer sold their entire stash in a single clip, cashing out a mere $1,200.

Nick Vaiman, founder and CEO of blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, told Decrypt the FUNKY launch and crash had all the characteristics of a classic crypto “rug pull,” a type of exit scam all too common in the trading trenches.

“Always play to win in life, you can bounce back from anything with conviction! $100 in SOL or USDC if you play,” Askren’s post on X reads, followed by a custom link that reads “BenAskrenPlays” but leads to a Pump.fun meme coin page.

In the minutes and hours after the post, most observers believed Askren’s X account had been hacked. “You have to be a real [piece of shit] to take advantage of a dude who almost died multiple times in the last 60 days,” one X user replied. “Whoever hacked Ben after everything that has happened recently is a SCUMBAG,” another posted.

But that’s not what happened, according to Arora. The influencer and meme coin maker told Decrypt he paid Askren an undisclosed amount to promote the token launch, and provided receipts.

Askren’s “Funky” media team did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment, nor did he or his wife respond to Instagram messages.

Arora became known in the crypto world after launching a meme coin in connection with Olympic gold medal winner Caitlyn Jenner in May 2024, who later claimed Arora owed her “lots of money.” The Indian national has also created tokens for rapper Rich the Kid, singer Jason Derulo, and many more.

Arora shared a screenshot with Decrypt of Instagram direct messages with Askren, which showed the coin creator telling Askren what to post and stating he’d sent Askren confirmation of a wire payment via email. Arora claims to have spoken to Askren on the phone and that the former MMA fighter knew he was promoting a meme coin.

But Arora is known for tricking celebrities into promoting meme coins without their knowledge. 

The influencer told the YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla, in an interview in June that Jenner, for example, thought she was endorsing a crypto project, not an officially branded meme coin. Derulo, Arora said, thought he was endorsing a crypto casino. 

The meme coin promoter claims to have paid mid-five figures for Askren’s post, and that the funds were going to help pay Askren’s hospital bills. The fighter’s medical insurance company famously refused to cover his double lung transplant, leading to an outpouring of support from the MMA community and donations from former boxing opponent Jake Paul and UFC boss Dana White.

Arora has also been previously accused of not following through with payments to celebrities for their posts. The coin promoter told Decrypt the wire for Askren’s post had already landed, but did not provide any evidence.

Askren’s post is still live on X at the time of writing. This is unusual for an Arora-linked token. In the past, Arora’s meme coin antics have typically ended with the celebrity claiming, either sincerely or not, to have been hacked or misled within hours and then deleting the post.

The Ben Askren meme coin FUNKY failed to gain significant traction among traders, peaking at a market capitalization of just $29,000. By contrast, Jenner’s coin hit $22.41 million on its first day and $42 million on its second. 

The FUNKY token flopped so badly that Arora told Decrypt he lost money on the scheme.