Khalil Rountree Jr. - "Beautiful Brutality"
- Christopher Perez
- Jan 14
- 10 min read
“How does a non-confrontational guy become an elite cage fighter?” - Joe Rogan (JRE MMA Show EP 64)
The answer lies in the story of Khalil Rountree Jr., a 34 year old mixed martial artist signed to the UFC. Rountree Jr. is one of many in the organization with a story to tell, but unique to him, a tale of loss, depression, triumph, and unlikely success. Rountree’s journey from weighing 305 pounds to fighting for the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Championship is an empowering one that personifies triumphant success after rock bottom. No matter what walk of life we as humans come from, one thing remains true, we are highly intelligent and emotional creatures, and that very fact alone manifests itself in numerous ways. Everyone who lives a full life will experience the highs and lows and everything in between. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, around 25% of Young adults aged 18 to 25 reported having some sort of mental illness, with far more goin presumably undiagnosed. We can sit here and pretend that many of these mental health issues are caused by this, this, and that, however societal pressures are one of the leading amplifiers of anxiety and problems alike. Khalil Rountree Jr, at 19 was a contributing member to this statistic, nevertheless he has clawed and scraped his way to the top of the sport of MMA in pursuit of turning his life around and has realized a new mission along the way. A mission to inspire people at their lowest, and to be an ambassador for mental health in the world. Flowers do grow from the concrete; Khalil Rountree Jr. is one of them, and his message, we all are.
Born in 1990 in Los Angeles, California to his two loving parents, Taryn Moret and Rhoderick Rountree Sr., Khalil was brought into this world with a strong nuclear family and favorable circumstances. At just two years old, the course of his family’s lives would take a turn forever as Khalil’s father was shot and killed in the Gold Coast Hotel in Chicago. Khalil’s father Rhoderick ‘Khalil’ Rountree Sr. was making it happen for his family, as a brand new dad, earning a living as the tour manager for Boyz II Men, one of the pioneering “boy bands” and vocal harmony groups of the 90’s. On tour in Chicago on May 25, 1992, Rhoderick Rountree Sr. was murdered protecting the bands members in an attempted robbery. As Khalil was just two years old, the effects of his fathers untimely death wouldn’t come to manifest until years later. He remembers being told the truth of his fathers death around 11 years old, spawning a ball of anger within him. Subsequently, life got hard for the Rountree family. Khalil grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada in a one bedroom apartment with his mother, brother, sister, and his niece for a majority of his formative years. Khalil recalls in his UFC Origins BioPic having plenty of moments where he felt different than his peers and summarizes being bullied for things he was interested in at a young age. One of these things was his affinity for music and his music taste. Music was something that made him feel connected to his late father and felt passionate about early on. He professes it was his first love. He describes going to school with an NSYNC t shirt on and being brutally picked on for it. This moment, and it is true for many others growing up in the public school systems, made Rountree become recluse and resent social interactions with his peers. His introverted nature began to grow into his late teens, where with a small group of friends he began to epitomize everything goth. This means wearing all black, face piercings, gauging his earlobes, in what he describes as a “walking billboard for stay the hell away from me.” Khalil graduated high school and looked around at everyone getting jobs, going to college, getting married, having kids and felt further from himself than ever. He began to tour with a band of his friends to try and keep up with the crowd. The deep depression and low self worth started to set in as Khalil began to experiment with alcohol and drugs, eating nothing but fast food and smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, leading to severe suicidal thoughts. At the ripe age of just 19 years old, Khalil Rountree Jr. weighed in at 305 lbs, rock bottom. He tells the story of laying down one night to go to sleep and he felt like his heart was going to explode out of his chest. He got up and smoked a cigarette to calm himself down. This was his wake up call to finally prioritize his health. The power of the AHA moment is something that is universally human and deserves its flowers. Its the stuff of movies and great stories alike. Something everyone who has had success has experienced. Khalil Rountree zeroed in on making the change but didn’t know where to turn.
In steps Donovan Frelow, Rountree’s step brother who he accolades with being the earliest male role model in his life. One day Donovan was watching an episode of The Ultimate Fighter, the trailblazing reality TV MMA competition show that the UFC used to market the sport of MMA to the masses early on. Khalil remembers discovering the show with his brother, starkly identifying with the fighters and felt the sport to be an outlet to release his deep emotions. He describes the moment Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson tore the door off the frame in TUF season 7 as a moment of no return. Living in Las Vegas, Nevada, Rountree and his brother decided to head down to the local Wand Fight Team Gym where UFC Hall of Fame Inductee Wanderlei Silva trained because they wanted to fight like their favorite fighter on TV. On the first day, he signed up for a Muay Thai class with trainer Michael Costa. A moment in time that would snowball into the Khalil Rountree Jr. we see today. Michael Costa took a particular liking to this very green 300 lbs kid. After the class, Costa asked Rountree if he had ever done this before, Khalil said “no”, he rebutted with “you’re a natural, come back tomorrow.” A powerful comment and mantra that Khalil uses to this day. The power of mentorship and having an older male figure in his life who cared for his well being, was enough for Khalil to commit to this new journey. He left his life touring with his friends playing music to train and prioritize his health. After his first training session, he recalls barely being able to breathe, inspiring him to go home and throw out his cigarettes. After a few months of seeing change in his body composition, his face slimming and people taking notice of his transformation, an avalanche of self improvement started rolling down hill. He cut out fast food, drugs and stopped drinking soda. His skills in Muay Thai were only getting better as his confidence grew. He liked this new life so much he asked his trainer for a fight. One of his trainers, John Wood, promised him a fight if he could get down to 205 lbs. Challenge accepted. Over the next 11 months Khalil dropped 100 lbs off of his frame, popping out the other side with a freakish physique. Kahlil’s Trainer honored his agreement and got Khalil his first fight as an amateur on March 12, 2011 against a man by the name of Travis Jelmyer. He won by way of TKO in the first round. Khalil would go on to amass an amateur record of (6-1) on his way to his professional debut.
On June 6, 2014 Khalil made his professional debut against Livingston Lukow in a RFA event, a small MMA promotion, where he won an electrifying fight by unanimous decision. Khalil would go onto rattle off another three wins with the promotion, two coming by way of KO, all while gearing up to make an appearance on the very show that started this entire journey, The Ultimate Fighter season 23. In a full circle moment, Khalil Rountree Jr. found himself in the elimination round of TUF 23: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia. The culmination of everything Khalil felt and had been through showed up in the octagon that day. A showcase of Khalil’s power, resilience, and heart was on full display. In the second round Khalil put his opponent Muhammed Dereese down in a fashion that impressed the UFC President Dana White, finishing his opponent with soccer kicks to the side of the body. Whenever a fighter gets an audible “holy shit” out of Dana White, good omens tend to follow. This specific fight would be an introduction for many to the product we would get out of the title challenger for years to come. Nows as good a time as any to talk about the personification of all the pain in Khalil’s life showing up in the cage. When we talk about heavy hitters, Khalil might as well be the poster child. No words can describe the visceral feelings you get watching this guy finish people. If you haven’t seen any highlights, stop what your doing, head over to YouTube, play some pop smoke in the background, and watch this dude punish people like a grown ass man. Off the back of his decisive victory in the elimination round of the show, Khalil would hit his first real roadblock, losing in smothering fashion to Cody Hendricks in the quarter finals of the competition. He was taken down time and time again showing a pretty big hole in his game coming from a Muay Thai background. His luck would turn for the better as he was brought back for the semi finals after an injury to one of the other contestants. In the semi finals, Rountree would come to face Josh Stansbury and get his redemption, devastatingly finishing Stansbury on the feet by way of TKO. In the finals of TUF season 23, Rountree would face-off against Andrew Sanchez in his fourth professional fight on July 8, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unfortunately, the fight wouldn’t go Rountree’s way as he lost a unanimous decision seemingly haulting his momentum and dreams of fighting in the UFC. Dana White favored Rountree so much that he offered the fighter a contract regardless, realizing Rountree’s dreams. You could stop the story here and have it sound complete, but as Rountree’s journey through the promotion’s ranks continued, a new found purpose would arise for the fighter.
On March 22, 2022, Rountree fought at UFC Vegas 50, a fight card held at the UFC’s APEX, an octagon built out to put on fights through covid. A moment marked in time where the world got a glimpse of what Khalil was really about. Rountree, on this day, fought Karl Roberson. After an intense back and forth in a high paced fight, Rountree landed a gnarly straight right, dropping his opponent. He quickly followed up with a few soccer kicks to the body, ultimately finishing Roberson with ground and pound. Now, this finish wasn’t something new out of Rountree, however in his post fight interview both in the octagon and the post-fight press conference he did give us something we hadn’t seen before. In an emotional octagon interview with Paul Felder, Khalil opened up about his story and triumph that got him to that moment. In a heartfelt monologue, he vowed to make a difference in the world of mental health and wanted to be an inspiration to people just like him at 19 years old. This fight marks 12 years of fighting for the fighter, not only in the octagon, but fighting to take control of his life. He would further elaborate at the press conference, breaking down into tears. The tears showed just how much the result of all his hard work meant to the fighter. When asked about his goals for the future of his career, Khalil said he’d rather never touch gold, but touch the lives of thousands if not millions and help them realize their potential. One specific question got a visceral reaction out of the fighter, “What would you tell the next Khalil Rountree sitting on the couch right now?” After a moment he said, “Your Life Matters.” Something so simple, yet so powerful for the millions of lost souls in this country. This line is the acme of his entire story. It’s rare we see such a vulnerable moment coming out of the tough guy business. To think this could be a pioneering moment for the culture of the sport is an understatement. The UFC has often fought the notion that the fighters in the sport are crazy people, who use violence as a way to release deeply suppressed issues. Now parts of that notion are very true, however they are humans as well with complex stories and reasons for the way they are. Khalil just might be the perfect liaison to appeal to the humanity of the fighters in this business. The opportunities would flood in for the fighter after this interview and lead him closer to accomplishing his goals.
With appearances on The Joe Rogan podcast, sponsorships coming in, and chances at high profile fights, Khalils career would find a new peak, ultimately landing him a title shot against the Boogie Man himself, Alex “Poatan” Pereira. On October 5, 2024 at UFC 307, Khalil would get his chance at gold and to etch his name amongst the far and few between. Alex Pereira is and has been red-hot since joining the UFC back in 2021 quickly carving out his stardom with an array of highlight reel finishes beating the best of the best in the company across multiple divisions. Khalil Rountree accepted this fight on very short notice with the whole world betting against him. When the two fighters stepped into the octagon, sparks would fly for three full rounds, leading to the finish of our protagonist early in the fourth round. After the fight, Khalil would get a standing ovation as he exited the arena, later being revealed he was winning on the scorecards through three rounds. The nature of fighting a guy like Pereira is the sobering fact that you need to finish this guy to win. He will knock you out the moment he smells blood in whatever round of your choosing. The Dominance of Pereira must be stated to put into perspective just how much of anomaly Rountree really is. Not many leave the octagon with Pereira with their wits about them and that night Rountree proved he finally belonged. The story is still being written and with someone like Rountree finally getting the proper platform to achieve his broader goals, the sport of MMA is in good hands.
Flowers do grow from the concrete.
Sources: UFCstats.com, Wikipedia.com, youtube.com (UFC Countdown) (UFC Embedded), Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, The Ultimate Fighter, NIMH.gov
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