After unexpected medical failure and UFC release, Askar Askar ready to punch his return ticket at LFA 109

Through his rise up the ranks, Askar Askar envisioned what his first UFC fight week would be like. When the phone call finally came, things did not play out in the fashion he predicted.

Signed on short notice to fight promotion-ranked Cody Stamann at UFC Fight Night 184, Askar (11-1) was removed from the card hours before the Feb. 2 event was scheduled to start after a physician did not grant him medical clearance to compete.

The issue, Askar recently told MMA Junkie, lied in his pre-fight heart scans. The assessing physician saw an abnormality that sounded alarms with the UFC brass, including Sean Shelby who implied Askar’s fighting future as a whole was in jeopardy. The news caught Askar, a veteran of over a dozen professional fights, off guard.

“He looked at one of the heart scans and said he saw something and he didn’t understand what it was,” Askar said. “When he called me, he called me the day of the event. And I was like, can you tell me what happened? Why am I not fighting tonight? And he told me that there was a condition or something that I have that the only he only sees with post-heart surgery, you know what I mean? So I’m like, what is that? I’m like, ‘That’s crazy.’ I’m like, ‘I never had a problem with my heart’. I’ve had, what, this is about to be at my 13th flight? I mean, I’ve had 10 amateur (fights). I’ve never had a problem. And when he came up with that news, I was surprised.”

Shortly after he received the news, Askar was sent his pink slip. His UFC stint was over before it even started. Although disappointed, Askar said he understands there’s a business side to the promotion, and he ultimately wasn’t able to complete the task he had signed up for.

“I was like, ‘Come on, dude. I didn’t even get on the flight to get back home.’ But it’s all good,” Askar said. “It happens. They are I mean, they signed me on a week’s notice and then I wasn’t able to get in there. I made the weight (as) they wanted, but I wasn’t able to get to the cage and compete.”

Since his promotional departure, Askar visited a heart specialist in Chicago who granted him a full bill of health. Having a thumbs up from an expert, Askar will resume his MMA career Friday at LFA 109 when he takes on Justin Wetzell (6-1) as the card’s co-main event.

“Now that Ramadan just ended, I knew in my mind that I was going to fight sometime in June,” Askar said. “I was thinking late June, maybe mid-June, but it came early June. So I wasn’t mad at it, you know what I mean? I just had to put myself right in the camp. But, yeah, if I win this, I see, you know, either Contender Series or a late-notice call, you know? In my mind, I’m going to try to stay as ready as possible after, you know?”