One of the most dominant fighters in the history of mixed martial arts had a wrestling background. So how come one of the best wrestlers in recent times has never even tried moving to the world of MMA?
US freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs is without a doubt one of the finest athletes ever. The 2012 Olympic champion will forever be one of the biggest “What ifs” having in mind the fact that he’s 32 now.
Speaking to UFC commentator and popular podcaster Joe Rogan, Burroughs revealed that he was seriously considering a move to MMA before meeting his wife who advised him against crossing over into a new sport.
“I’ve been close,” Burroughs said about transitioning to MMA.
“Mostly the lady outside, my wife, Lauren is the one who has talked me out of it.” When I graduated from college in 2011 wrestling was in its infancy of marketing and branding and really making it a professional career.
“MMA was the new kid on the block, and it was growing and expanding, and we had a lot of our guys transitioning in. Henry Cejudo, Ben Askren, Daniel Cormier and so I really thought about it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to wrestle in the Olympics in London, 2012, win the gold and the I’m going to make the transition to MMA. I’ll be 25 years old. I’ll have plenty of time and then I met Lauren and she was like, ‘Listen, you’re doing well in the sport. Stay here, you are comfortable.’
