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.
— Jordan Burroughs
I like movies with superheroes - one of my favorite movies of all time was 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.'
I have never been affected by terror, but here in Iran, I have never felt any ill will toward me - the opposite, actually.
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.
I have high expectations for myself - as an athlete, as a man, as an individual - and wrestling has helped me build a lot of character knowing that I have to remain humble but also fight complacency.
I didn't see my son walk for the first time. I've left my wife at home with two kids for long periods of time to go to training camps, to foreign countries.
We have a lot of wrestling fans out there just looking for a star to cheer for.
There weren't a lot of people who believed in my abilities. But the more I grew and developed as a man, the more I believed in myself, and the harder I worked, the better I got and the more I progressed.
If you come from Jersey, you're tough. You've been through the grind.
It's been a lot of responsibility to be an ambassador for U.S. wrestling and the sport. It's a tough journey. There's a lot of obligations but also a lot of opportunity.
There's no excuse for losing for me.
I'm not going to sit on my laurels.
I'm so comfortable in my identity as a wrestler that if I never fought, it would never bother me one bit.
I just want one fight. Because, like, for me, it's not about the status, not about the glory. It's not about the money. Like, I just want to throw my hands and see what I'm made of. And I think that wrestlers and fighters have that same fighting spirit.
I definitely want to fight after I'm done wrestling.
I think that Ben Askren, when he competed as a wrestler, he was an amazing athlete.
There was a period of time early in my career where I was like, 'I'm gonna definitely fight. I definitely want to be a part of this lifestyle.' Then there was a period of time where I had so much success in the sport of wrestling, and I was like, 'I don't really need fighting.'
My one and only focus at the Olympic Games is to win a gold medal.
I've seen 'Cars' and 'Cars 2' about 1,500 times a piece.
I'd definitely like to give back. I know a lot of kids watch college wrestling, and a lot of kids watch me, want to meet me and introduce themselves.
I approach every match with that mindset, that this guy is trying to beat you, and it will change his life if he does.
I wanted to be amongst the greats. I wanted to be a Simone Biles, a Michael Phelps, an Ashton Eaton. I wanted to be those guys.
I missed a lot of important milestones in my children's lives to pursue this sport.
I've had matches that were close.
It's become a lot bigger than just winning championships. It's about inspiring hopefully millions at some point in my career.
I'm getting older. That's realistic. I can't reverse time. I can slow it down a little bit.
I have a lot of confidence because of my success.
Anything less than gold is a failure to me. It's extreme pressure, but I hold myself to a high standard.
It's one of those things: we've got guys that are very offensive and can take down anyone, and we've got guys that don't shoot at all but are very hard to take down. It's one of those things. You've got to decide what you're good at.
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.
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.'
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.
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?
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 listen to a lot of TED talks and motivational speakers.
There was a time period where I was obsessed with the rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics in the 1980s.
I love kids - they're so carefree and always put a smile on my face.
It's a difficult place being on top because, for me, beating the Average Joe has no significance, but for the Average Joe, beating me could be the biggest match of his life, potentially.
I love the sport of wrestling because it's a testament of your will and what you're capable of as a man.
I want to be the guy who our sport looks up to, and win multiple championships.
That's my job: work hard, win, and inspire.
I want to make sure that everyone benefits from my success, not just me.
I think I'm a crossover athlete to get the sport into the mainstream media.
Every year I win, everything I do, it cements my legacy.
I think Americans, as a nation and culture, once something is recognized for a week or two, people kind of forget about.
I think my mental toughness, athleticism, and my physical prowess, I'd be successful if I decided to fight, no matter what.
There's just a spirit about you that it's such a beautiful art form in which you can implement strategy in order to subdue another individual. And I really feel like that's in wrestling and UFC; we're kind of - we collaborate in that way.
John Smith from Oklahoma State was the greatest American wrestler of all time.
Wrestling is different than MMA or boxing or really any other contact sport in that you can't really draw along an opponent.
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.
