From the get-go, Jordan Burroughs carved a different path for himself than most other elite wrestlers. Now it’s paying off – literally.
Burroughs has one of the deepest resumes in U.S. wrestling history. He won gold at the 2012 Olympics and is a six-time world champion. Prior to his international dominance, he won two NCAA Division-I titles at Nebraska and won the Hodge Trophy, given to the nation’s top wrestler.
But the 38-year-old never took up MMA, even though he flirted with it.
“I started training. I started taking striking classes. I started doing jiu-jitsu fairly regularly,” Burroughs recently told MMA Junkie Radio of the time he thought about dipping his toes into the proverbial cagefighting waters. “I never got into the contract stages. I never started talking about opponents, weight classes, catch weights, etc. I never got that deep into it. But what I did is I started to prepare my body and my mind for it just in case the opportunity arise.
“I think I would have been freaking good. I can move. I can flow. I'm aggressive. I've taken crazy amounts of shots to the head and face. My double leg and my explosiveness is a large part of my wrestling. I think I would have a really strong chin. I pride myself on my grit and my toughness, but also my fluidity and my dynamic movement. I think I would have been a problem for a lot of fighters.”
Instead, he’s a problem these days for opponents in the RAF. Burroughs signed with Real American Freestyle in June. He debuted with the promotion in August and won a technical fall against UFC standout Sean Brady. Two weeks later, he beat Magomed Kurbanaliev in Moscow.
Friday, he’ll have his third RAF match in just two months when he takes on Michael Caliendo at RAF 14 at the Fountainbleu in Las Vegas (FOX Nation, AMC Theatres in select markets). He even has a fourth matchup booked for RAF’s show in Abu Dhabi next month.
With RAF in the mix, Burroughs said he doesn’t have to give the same considerations to making a leap to MMA like other wrestlers have had to do in the past. There wasn’t an entity like RAF around to help pay the bills, and Burroughs was well ahead of today’s insane NIL payouts that are available to elite athletes.
Besides, he said, Burroughs wasn’t done with wrestling yet, anyway.
“I also I respect the (MMA) game,” Burroughs said. “Part of the best ability is availability. Part of being great is you’ve got to try it. You’ve got to have the courage to jump in the octagon, and that takes a whole other level of bravery and honor entirely. It's ‘would have, could have, should have.’ I try not to spend too much time dwelling on, ‘Yeah, I think I could have been great. I would have been the champion.’ I just think my skills would have translated well. I've got tremendous respect for everyone who has had the courage to jump into the octagon and who has done well in it, and I don't want to ever dishonor their craft by making it seem easy. I know it's considerably harder than it looks from the outside, and these guys are animals and professionals within the octagon. Much respect to those guys. I just I think I would have done well.
“I had some unfinished business in wrestling. I love wrestling, and that's why RAF is so special. Most people transition to MMA, not because they want to beat people up for a living, but because the paychecks are considerably larger. With RAF being around, it's created an outlet for us to generate more income while still staying true to the essence of our real craft, which is freestyle wrestling.”
Burroughs’ opponent Friday, Caliendo, was an All-American wrestler at North Dakota State before he transferred to Iowa. He was the NCAA Division-I runner-up at 165 pounds earlier this year and wrapped his college record at 100-21.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jordan Burroughs on RAF 14, UFC regrets, wrestling vs. MMA paydays