Jordan Burroughs Quotes

Dorm-room life was a tough transition. You’re young, and you realize how much you miss the comfort of home.

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.

For Americans, of course, it’s football, basketball, and baseball. We live for it. In many ways, it sums up who we are. In Iran, it’s all about wrestling. The patriotism toward their country comes out in the way they wrestle, so it makes sense why they’re the best.

It’s harder to be a dad than an Olympic champion.

A lot of kids can’t identify with the things I’ve done and where I’m from and who I am as an individual. That’s why I’ve tried to be a person and live my life in a way that can be identified by all cultures.

It’s become a lot bigger than just winning championships. It’s about inspiring hopefully millions at some point in my career.

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.

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.

Wrestling is different than MMA or boxing or really any other contact sport in that you can’t really draw along an opponent.

I think every athlete is afraid for their career to be over.

I’ve had matches that were close.

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.’

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 think I’m a crossover athlete to get the sport into the mainstream media.

Family is most important to me.

I remember my first World Championships. I got zero turns, and I got turned multiple times, and I was still a World Champion.

Everybody makes money; not everybody makes history.

We have a lot of wrestling fans out there just looking for a star to cheer for.

It’s never too late to be great.

The worst thing for me would be going back to where I was – relative obscurity.

If you look at my iPod, I’ve got so much different music. I think that it kind of describes me as a person, just being a chameleon to whatever particular environment that I’m in.

I enjoy wrestling. I enjoy the sport. I get to go against the world’s best athletes.

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.

If I wrestle in 2020, I want it to be my own decision and not the IOC’s.

There’s a pride in representing your country on a stage like the sport of wrestling, which I’ve done since I was five years old. There’s nothing that can deter me other than my own decision to leave the sport.

Donald Trump and I have very different views on Iranians. I am confident that if he ever visited the country, he’d learn a lot about the people and come back to the States with a newfound appreciation for the Persians.

I love the sport of wrestling because it’s a testament of your will and what you’re capable of as a man.

There was a time period where I was obsessed with the rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics in the 1980s.

I’m not going to sit on my laurels.

I think the ultimate sign of an icon or legend in any sport is the ability to elevate their teammates.

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’ve won every single event there is to win as a wrestler, and I still continue to come back every single year. The hard part for me is, ‘OK, how long can you do this?’

I missed a lot of important milestones in my children’s lives to pursue this sport.

There’s no excuse for losing for me.

If you come from Jersey, you’re tough. You’ve been through the grind.

I want to be the guy who our sport looks up to, and win multiple championships.

John Smith from Oklahoma State was the greatest American wrestler of all time.

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.

My one and only focus at the Olympic Games is to win a gold medal.

The way the podium is situated in wrestling, the first place spot is the center. So if I’m in a bathroom, I’ll look for the first place urinal.

I’ve seen ‘Cars’ and ‘Cars 2’ about 1,500 times a piece.

I’m so comfortable in my identity as a wrestler that if I never fought, it would never bother me one bit.

You know what’s cooler than being the richest guy in the room? Being the toughest guy in the room.

I’ve got the ability to control my destiny, and I take pride in that.

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

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.

I’ve become close with Masoud Esmaeilpour and consider him a friend. We send each other messages from time to time on Instagram, checking in to see how the other is doing. Whenever I see him, he’s always a gentleman, giving me tips about my next opponent. There is a tremendous amount of respect in our friendship.

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 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.

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.

I think Americans, as a nation and culture, once something is recognized for a week or two, people kind of forget about.

So many kids dream about playing in the NFL. But I was 130 pounds in ninth grade. I looked around and didn’t see any 130-pound wide receivers in the pros.

High school wrestling is awesome.

Discipline, focus, endurance is what it takes to be the greatest at this sport.

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.