Jordan Burroughs vs Magomed Kurbanaliev - The Heaviest Mantles in Wrestling

One of the only men to have more hardware to his name than Magomed Kurbanaliev is Jordan Burroughs but one victory at RAF MOSCOW is all it takes to steal a legacy. It’s a battle of the gold standard of America vs the Russian status quo, Burroughs vs Kurbanaliev finally on the RAF mat.

As good as Jordan Burroughs was on the NCAA mat, he seemed to reach another notch in international competition. With “thumb-fatiguing” accolades to scroll through there are few people on earth who can challenge him at this point in his career. In comes Magomed Kurbanaliev.

For more than a decade, Burroughs defined American freestyle wrestling. Before that he was one of the faces of folkstyle. Olympic gold, multiple World Championships, NCAA gold and countless unforgettable performances have cemented his place among the sport's all-time greats. Even after stepping away from regular competition, his presence has remained larger than life, serving as an ambassador to American wrestling, commentator and the go-to comparison anytime a middleweight college wrestler displayed prolonged success. Now, after a successful return at RAF12, Burroughs is officially back.

Burroughs’ clash with UFC title contender Sean Brady showed that he’s not just coming back for a victory lap, he and his signature blast double are in prime form and ready for even more gold. With Olympic gold, World gold, NCAA gold and much more, not only is RAF gold the only thing he seems to be missing but he’s running out of worthy opponents he hasn’t faced.

That’s where Kurbanaliev comes in. With gold medals in Worlds, Russian Nationals, Euros and much, much more, it’s a head scratcher that the two haven’t come across one another before. The world has thrown their best at the Dagestani superstar and he’s taken almost all of them out.

A knee injury took him out in his prime but he climbed back to the top and won three more gold medals in various events. Himself included, nobody has been able to completely keep Kurbanaliev down.

For Burroughs to show the world his first match back was for real, he will need a strong performance and while Kurbanaliev is solid all around, Burroughs still has many advantages to work with.

Burroughs will need to make the match short bursts instead of a grind. Burroughs' biggest weapon is still that absurd first-step explosion. Look for Burroughs to get Kurbanaliev moving backwards, create a reaction and blasting the double.

He will also need to attack the edges. Burroughs offense lends itself to opponents defending legs more than upper-body. In freestyle, that could lead to pushout points coming in at-will for the Olympic gold medalist.

For Kurbanaliev he will need to wrestle the entire match. Burroughs simply cannot be given the space to attack explosively. Keep him in tight where he’s not the same threat his explosivity makes him from distance.

He will also need to attack the lead leg.

Burroughs' stance and movement are built around creating that explosive double. If Kurbanaliev can repeatedly threaten the lead leg, Burroughs has to become more defensive leading to openings for the younger athlete.

It’s an interesting matchup that almost slipped away from the world of combat sports but Burroughs vs Kurbanaliev is on.

Catch Jordan Burroughs vs Magomed Kurbanaliev Saturday, September 5!