At 38, Jordan Burroughs knows the clock is ticking. But instead of walking away from wrestling, the Olympic champion has found another reason to step onto the mat.

That opportunity has come through late American pro wrestler Hulk Hogan’s Real American Freestyle (RAF), the promotion Burroughs joined earlier this summer. He will make his RAF debut against UFC welterweight Sean Brady at RAF 12 in Cleveland on August 22, giving the six-time world champion another chance to compete at the highest level.

Speaking on Fox & Friends ahead of the event, Burroughs was candid about where he stands in his career. The Nebraska legend knows he is no longer the wrestler who stormed to Olympic gold in London in 2012. “I’m getting older, so I’m past my prime,” he said.

“Typically, the average age of the Olympian or world championship team member is anywhere from 25 to 30. So at 38, I’m on the back side of my career, but RAF has given me an opportunity to get back into that.”

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That opportunity means more because professional wrestling has historically offered few places for elite freestyle wrestlers once their college careers end. Burroughs believes RAF is changing that equation by giving veterans a platform to keep competing rather than forcing them to leave the sport behind.

“Most wrestlers start at a very young age, but post-collegiately you don’t really have a lot of options,” he explained. “You go to the average jiu-jitsu studio, you see the average age of an athlete there is probably 30 to 40 years old. But wrestlers are all kids, right? And so we’re trying to create a way to sustain excellence over a long period of time. I think RAF has done a great job.”

For Burroughs, that matters because his own résumé hardly needs another chapter. A two-time NCAA champion at Nebraska, he captured Olympic gold at 74kg in London and went on to win six world titles. He also owns three Pan American Games gold medals and seven combined Olympic and World Championship golds, the most by an American wrestler.

Yet his career has never followed a perfectly smooth line. After missing the podium at the 2016 Olympics and failing to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2020, Burroughs moved up to 79kg and responded by winning world titles in 2021 and 2022. His last international appearance came at the 2024 World Championships.

Now, the next chapter begins in Cleveland.

Hulk Hogan always had bigger goals in his mind for RAF

The league Jordan Burroughs is joining was built around an ambitious idea: give elite freestyle wrestling the kind of professional home it has rarely had.

Hulk Hogan, who co-founded RAF with Chad Bronstein and others, believed the sport could grow into something far bigger. Before his death in July 2025, Hogan spoke about wanting RAF to become “as big or bigger” than WWE or UFC, arguing that wrestling was an underserved market.

RAF has since continued without its famous co-founder. Its first event took place in August 2025, and the promotion has maintained a regular schedule, with its 12th event marking its first anniversary on August 22.

That consistency is part of what has helped the promotion attract Olympic champions, NCAA stars and MMA names. RAF has also expanded its reach through FOX Nation, while developing youth programs alongside its professional events.

And now Burroughs gets to test the concept himself.

His opponent, Brady, brings a very different résumé. The UFC welterweight has built his reputation in MMA, but has also developed into a strong wrestler and grappler. The matchup gives Burroughs a familiar challenge with an unfamiliar twist: taking his world-class freestyle skills into a new professional setting.

For a man who has already conquered the Olympics and world championships, there is little left to prove. But that may be precisely why this chapter feels different.

Burroughs is not chasing validation anymore. At 38, he is chasing the chance to compete, to stay connected to the sport he has given his life to, and to prove that elite wrestling does not have to end when the Olympic journey does.

RAF has given him that opportunity, and for Burroughs, one more chance on the mat may be worth more than another medal ever could be.