Not Surprisingly, Dana White’s “Very Interested” in Adding Jordan Burroughs to UFC Roster

Jordan Burroughs has talked about his desire to give MMA a go, at least once, and it seems clear that Dana White would love to sign the ridiculously decorated wrestler to the UFC.

If you don’t follow wrestling (real-wrestling), then you may be unaware that Burroughs is a former Olympic Gold Medalist and multi-time world champ in freestyle wrestling. The 30-year-old is also a former NCAA Division 1 champ in folkstyle wrestling.

Well, earlier this week at a “Beat the Streets” event, Burroughs scored a clear cut win over renowned wrestler, and UFC contender, Ben Askren. White recently appeared on The Jime Rome Show, and when asked about his interesting in having Burroughs fight under the UFC banner, he said this (quote via MMA Fighting):

“Yeah, listen, I’m always interested in, you know, these guys that are considered the best athletes in whatever it is they do wanting to come to the UFC,” White said. “Yeah, obviously I’d be very interested.”

Due to what Burroughs has accomplished on the wrestling mats, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. But, as noted above, it doesn’t sound like, at least right now, Burroughs is thinking about transitioning into a MMA career.

While speaking to ESPN recently, and as quoted in the MMA Fighting story linked above, the vaunted wrestler said this:

“I just want to fight one time. That’s it,” Burroughs said. “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. Like 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’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.’”

So, we’ll see what happens here. It should also be noted that Bellator has a history of signing decorated wrestlers. As a result, uou would think they could be a player in all this as well, if in fact, Burroughs decides to go this route.