Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs on potential MMA fight: ‘I don’t want to live with regret’
The 2012 Olympic champion and reigning 79Kg world champion has reignited rumours of a potential sport switch before the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Wrestling
USA Wrestling legend Jordan Burroughs appears to have done a U-turn on his decision to compete in mixed martial arts (MMA).
The London 2012 Olympic gold medallist told The MMA Hour on Monday (15 November): "I just have a desire to get in there and see what I’ve got."
He had tweeted recently that he wanted 'One MMA fight before I retire. Just one.' - which sent wrestling twitter into overdrive.
The world's top Olympic wrestlers are routinely posed the question by journalists as to whether they would be interested in switching over the MMA, mostly due to the potential financial rewards on offer.
Burroughs was no different, and after briefly flirting with the switch after his Olympic triumph in London, has since stated on numerous occasions that it was simply not for him.
In January 2021, he seemingly ruled out the idea, saying: "It's a different sport, it's a completely different sport.
“I have so much appreciation and admiration for those (MMA) guys. But, I love wrestling. Wrestling is my craft. It’s not as glamorous, you don’t make as much money, but I think what we do is all about honor, and that’s what makes it cool for me.”
“In a wrestling match, if you lose you go have dinner with your family, if you lose an MMA fight you go to the hospital. So it’s something that I am not really interested in doing, but I will be an advocate for it, cause I love watching it.”
After failing to make the US Olympic team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, Burroughs, 33, returned to the mat with a bang to win the 2021 79kg world title.
With the Paris 2024 Olympics just three years away, it was clear that the New Jersey native still had what it took to mix it with the best.
But it would appear that he is once more considering the MMA switch, and opened up in conversation with The MMA Hour: "I don’t want to live with regret.... Ultimately for me, really positioning myself now where I’m like, does this make sense? How does it make sense? And really just entertaining offers.
"I’m hoping that I can still maintain my position in the wrestling world by being the best at what I do, my craft that I intended to be the best at, but also I just have a desire, bro. I just have a strong desire to get in there and see what I’ve got.”
Burroughs will be 37-years-old by the time the 2024 Olympic Games begin, so if his MMA debut is to take place, it will most likely happen before then.