Jordan Burroughs
I listen to a lot of TED talks and motivational speakers.Collection: Motivational
The difference between the greats and the legends is their ability to focus for longer periods of time.Collection: Time
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.Collection: Patriotism
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?Collection: Cool
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.Collection: Friendship
Anything less than gold is a failure to me. It's extreme pressure, but I hold myself to a high standard.Collection: Failure
I love kids - they're so carefree and always put a smile on my face.Collection: Smile
Every single time I get on the mat, every tournament, I get to see what I'm made of, how tough I am, where my desire is, and how hard I've worked.Collection: Time
I'm getting older. That's realistic. I can't reverse time. I can slow it down a little bit.
It's never too late to be great.
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 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.
My one and only focus at the Olympic Games is to win a gold medal.
Discipline, focus, endurance is what it takes to be the greatest at this sport.
John Smith from Oklahoma State was the greatest American wrestler of all time.
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.
Once you've reached the highest level, you always want to get back there. It's like, once you drive a Ferrari, you're not satisfied driving a Honda anymore.
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.
I love the sport of wrestling because it's a testament of your will and what you're capable of as a man.
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 have wrestled in almost every tournament in the world. I've won the Olympics, NCAAs, and World Championships, but none of those can truly compare to the feeling I felt when I won my first and only state championship my senior year of high school.
I think the ultimate sign of an icon or legend in any sport is the ability to elevate their teammates.
If you come from Jersey, you're tough. You've been through the grind.
I think Americans, as a nation and culture, once something is recognized for a week or two, people kind of forget about.
I'm not going to sit on my laurels.
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.
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.
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.'
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.
I think that Ben Askren, when he competed as a wrestler, he was an amazing athlete.
Wrestling is different than MMA or boxing or really any other contact sport in that you can't really draw along an opponent.
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 definitely want to fight after I'm done wrestling.
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.'
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'm so comfortable in my identity as a wrestler that if I never fought, it would never bother me one bit.
I think my mental toughness, athleticism, and my physical prowess, I'd be successful if I decided to fight, no matter what.
There's no excuse for losing for me.
Every year I win, everything I do, it cements my legacy.
I have a lot of confidence because of my success.
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.
I think I'm a crossover athlete to get the sport into the mainstream media.
I want to make sure that everyone benefits from my success, not just me.
It's become a lot bigger than just winning championships. It's about inspiring hopefully millions at some point in my career.
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.
That's my job: work hard, win, and inspire.
I've had matches that were close.
We have a lot of wrestling fans out there just looking for a star to cheer for.
I want to be the guy who our sport looks up to, and win multiple championships.