Murder, PEDs, addiction: Khalil Rountree Jr’s road from Boy to Man to UFC 307 main event
A murdered father who managed Boyz II Men, drug bans and fast food addictions – nothing has been conventional about Khalil Rountree Jr’s path to UFC 307.
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His dad was murdered while working as a manager for Boyz II Men.
He dobbed himself in when he discovered he’d taken banned performance enhancing drugs.
He was once a 140kg fast-food addict who shed 100 pounds in a year and began sparring the Axe Murderer Wanderlei Silva after just six months training.
Safe to say nothing about Khalil Rountree Jr’s path to this weekend’s UFC 307 main event against Alex Pereira has been conventional.
UFC 307: PEREIRA VS ROUNTREE JR | SUN 6 OCT 1PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.
In fact, in one way or another, all those hiccups, setbacks and tragedies moulded him into the fighter he says will beat the scariest knockout artist in the UFC today.
“For as long as I’ve been fighting, I’ve always had my own history in the back of my mind,” Rountree told this masthead just days ahead of his underdog world title tilt.
“I’ve overcome a lot of things and I’m just thinking that if my dad were around now, how proud he’d be of me for this moment, fighting for a world title.
“And also just being at this level and being able to carry our name. It’s something that’s really special.”
In 1992, Rountree’s dad, Roderick, was shot twice during a botched armed robbery at a hotel in Chicago while he was working as a tour manager for Boyz II Men.
Roderick died in an elevator in the early hours of that fateful morning, leaving Khalil without a father figure in his life.
By his teenage years, Khalil was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and bingeing on fast food and fizzy drinks.
He weighed 300 pounds when his brother introduced him to MMA. Rountree ditched the sugary drinks and takeaways and became hooked on training. Within months he was doing rounds with monsters like Wanderlei Silva.
Overcoming all of those challenges gave the 34-year-old some perspective when he discovered he had unintentionally taken a banned substance earlier this year.
Rountree self-reported the incident after an anabolic steroid was found in supplements he was taking.
“It was devastating,” he said. “It sent me down. It was gut-wrenching. I never thought I’d have to deal with anything like this in my career.
“The minimum suspension for something like that is nine to 12 months. It was a really unknown period.
“But when they looked over everything, all the facts and proof I sent over to prove none of this was intentional, they chose to give me a minimal suspension of four months.”
Rountree’s current five-fight win streak – including four stoppage victories – was enough to see him book a shot at Pereira’s light-heavyweight title in Salt Lake City this weekend.
‘Poatan’ is also riding an impressive knockout streak, with three 205-pound title fight knockouts in a row.
The Brazilian has become one of the UFC’s biggest stars and most feared fighters, but Rountree doesn’t see anything special.
“Everything they say about him, look at me and my last five fights,” he said. “I’ve been knocking everybody out too.
“We’ve both been doing the same thing, so why is it any different?
“He’s been doing it for the belt against people everyone knows, so that might be the difference, but we’re on similar paths. We have similar styles, and we’re both known for very similar things.
“I think it’s the perfect match-up and it makes perfect sense that it’s happening now.”
And if Rountree gets his hand raised this weekend, there’s likely to be a couple of old acquaintances ready to help him celebrate.
“Occasionally the (Boyz II Men) guys will reach out and invite me to a show,” he said. “I haven’t been yet, because I’ve been too focused on training.
“But I imagine after this we’ll get a little reunion going – hopefully with the belt.”
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Originally published as Murder, PEDs, addiction: Khalil Rountree Jr’s road from Boy to Man to UFC 307 main event
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