As usual, there are three paths to glory and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

The first is the Olympics, and you have to retain your amateur status to compete. This means living on the largesse of others, so be nice to your parents. It also means studying wrestling to the exclusion of all other disciplines. You're learning how to wrestle for the Olympics; end of story. If you win, you'll have a brief moment in the limelight and that's it.

Professional wrestling is a place to go whether or not you went into the Olympics. Your ultimate glory is going to be determined by your boss, since the result of the matches is predetermined. No, pro wrestling is not real. We're sorry to tell you that. This doesn't mean the athleticism is faked. In fact, wrestling is a highly dangerous sport with huge potential for injury and even death. You get to suffer through all of that, plus everyone telling you it's fake, if you go this route. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a third destination. The problem is that the best wrestlers don't necessarily make the best mixed martial artists. Wrestling in the Olympics and MMA wrestling are similar, but they're not the same. So while you're concentrating on the Olympics, you are not practicing some of the techniques that are most useful in the cage. Also, wrestling is only one of three aspects of MMA. MMA also has striking and submission grappling, both of which you'll have to learn in order to compete in the cage.