USA Wrestling star Jordan Burroughs: “I'm getting back to the essence of why I started”
The 34-year-old Olympic gold medallist and reigning world champion has never been hungrier for success, but his motivation has changed. Find out what he thinks about competing in MMA.
Wrestling
Jordan Burroughs has come full circle in his wrestling career.
With two NCAA Division I titles, three Pan American Games crowns, six world titles, and Olympic gold medal safely locked away, he is now chasing something less tangible.
“I wanted to win the tallest trophy when I was a kid. Then I wanted to have my name in the paper and get a varsity jacket,” Burroughs told Team USA.
“I wanted to get a scholarship, get my name up in the rafters at my college, and then I wanted to gain followers and make money and establish myself. Then it became I wanted to be the best ever.
“I'm getting back to the essence of why I started this, and that's just because I love it.”
Jordan Burroughs' gameplan ahead of Paris 2024
The shift in mindset has certainly done nothing to dampen his competitive spirit.
At the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, Burroughs won the 79kg title - his sixth overall - to become his nation’s most decorated freestyle wrestler ever.
Never one to rest on his laurels, the 34-year-old is looking to defend that title in 2023, before trying to qualify for another shot at Olympic glory at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“It's gold or bust for me, literally every single year. 2023 is an exciting time because it leads up to [the Olympic Games Paris] 2024. You want to get that ball rolling and start to gain momentum, but ultimately it's go back to the drawing board during the off season, dust yourself off, heal, recover, and start working back up to doing something else special.”
“I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd rather have a lot on my plate because of all the success that I've had than nothing, because I haven't done anything. I'm leading the way for a lot of people that look to me for inspiration and so many other people's dreams are intertwined with my own.
Burroughs is also motivated by giving back.
Last year, the New Jersey native established the ‘All I See Is Gold’ Academy in his home state, to nurture the next generation of talent.
“It’s one of the strongest hotbeds of the sport in the country,” he explained.
“I wanted to go back and give back to the place that established me and made me who I am. I wanted to kind of instil that in the youth in my area and inspire that next generation through all the things that I've learned.”
But Burroughs’ mentorship is about more than being a talented athlete.
He wants to develop ‘confidence, strength, consistency, persistence, resilience’ - virtues that he believes are the key to success both on and off the wrestling mat.
Staying fully focussed on wrestling
Many Olympic wrestlers, like Beijing 2008 gold medallist Henry Cejudo and Sydney 2000 silver medallist Yoel Romero, have made successful transitions over to mixed martial arts.
Subsequently, fans regularly speculate online over how Burroughs would fare in that more lucrative world.
While he has toyed with the idea, wrestling is in his blood and he has no plans to leave it any time soon.
“There's certain days that I'm like, "Damn I could do this. I could beat these dudes,” Burroughs said.
“Then there are other days where I'm like, "Nah, I'm good." It's hard. I found so much success and comfort and peace in wrestling, but I think I could be really good (at MMA).
“I don't know. Never say never, but it'd have to definitely be for the right price and it gets the right opponent.”
For now, Burroughs’ full attention will be on the USA Senior World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, 20-21 May, and if he qualifies, defending his World Championships title in Belgrade, Serbia, 16-24 September.