Jordan Burroughs

“You watch Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather fight, Floyd can just throw a few punches, or he can do a lot of defense; he can slip a few punches, let Conor get a few shots in. You can't really do that in wrestling without getting scored on or putting yourself at risk.”

“I've dreamed on numerous occasions that I've lost the biggest event in my life, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it.”

“It's easy to be selfish and focus on what you have to do and what you need to do to accomplish your goals and be like, 'I'll give back later,' but there's no better time than now.”

“A lot of guys get out of wrestling immediately after winning a gold medal. Every time another Olympics comes around, it's always a bunch of fresh faces. For me, to win an Olympic gold and have a chance to win another would be huge for our sport.”

“I'm getting older. That's realistic. I can't reverse time. I can slow it down a little bit.”

“I've always thought about it. I've considered it when I was young. I was like, 'Listen, I'm going to fight. I want to be a star. I'm going to fight.'”

“As wrestlers, we're not trying to hurt or damage physically our opponent. All we're trying to do is score points and get our hands raised, so I think that's where we differ from the UFC, but I think that also the way in which we could address each other could be cool from a competitive spirit.”

“I think I'm a crossover athlete to get the sport into the mainstream media.”

“I think a lot of guys get out of wrestling for financial incentive to go to the UFC, but I'm doing well.”

“I don't know if I'm really going to do it. But I've considered doing one fight and then getting out with my hands clean.”

“All I had was wrestling. If I'm not good at the only thing I have in life, I've got to get better at it.”

“It's always been a battle for me between personal goals and wanting to be able to share the success I've had with my family. And I guess as I've gotten older, I've kind of realized, you know, you can do all these cool things, but if you don't have people in your life to share it with, what's the point?”

“I have never been affected by terror, but here in Iran, I have never felt any ill will toward me - the opposite, actually.”

“If I do consider fighting, it won't be until after the Olympic games in 2020, and then from there I'll reevaluate, see if it's something that would be a realistic option for me.”

“That's my job: work hard, win, and inspire.”

“I was an All-American at three different weight classes in college. Started off at 149, then 157, and then finished up my senior year at 165.”

“I'm not afraid to tell people what I hope to accomplish and what I believe I'm capable of. I'm ready to take the backlash if I don't accomplish my dreams.”

“Believe it or not, my goal was always to play in the NFL.”

“I definitely want to fight after I'm done wrestling.”

“I like movies with superheroes - one of my favorite movies of all time was 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.'”