Khalil Rountree was in a dark place in his life before he started MMA.
Rountree will challenge Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 307 on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. “The War Horse” recently detailed how sports saved him from a difficult situation in life years ago.
Rountree was just two years old when his father, who once worked as Muhammad Ali’s bodyguard, died. Without someone to vouch for her in life, Rountree feels she wasn’t strong enough to face some of the challenges.
“When I was two years old, my father was killed,” Rountree said on the UFC 307 countdown show. “He was the manager of Boyz II Men, New Edition. At one point in his career, he was Muhammad Ali’s personal bodyguard. His funeral was attended by hundreds, maybe thousands of people. I remember having people… I think the biggest thing was not having the courage to face certain challenges because I didn’t have anyone to stand there and tell me everything was going to be okay.”
UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+. Order now!
Rountree eventually became extremely unhealthy, drinking excessively, smoking, and even taking random prescription drugs. Rountree, who weighs more than 300 pounds, was trying to sleep one night when her heart started beating abnormally and she thought she was going to die. That’s when the future UFC light heavyweight title challenger decided to work on his fitness, and MMA was the perfect match.
“That set me on a path to self-destruction,” Rountree said. “I was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. I was drinking nonstop. I was taking random prescribed medications. Just trying to numb all my pain. I remember getting on the scale and it said 305 pounds, and one night I was trying to go to sleep and I felt my heart doing something really, really weird. Then there was a moment when I thought, “Okay, it’s night.” It’s like dying in your sleep. ‘And that’s when I started thinking, ‘Okay, what can I do to maintain my life?’ That’s what made me start thinking more openly about things related to fitness and health. And MMA was perfect for me. ”
