Khalil Rountree Jr. grew up without his father. The UFC light heavyweight star was raised by his mother and older brother, who it must be said, did a stupendous job. After all, ‘War Horse’ faced more than his fair share of obstacles and hardships in his life. Since he was over 300-pounds, and was a quiet, shy kid who had his own unique dressing style, Rountree, predictably, was an easy target for bullies.

But, all of that changed when his brother got him into mixed martial arts, making a pact with him that they would train together. And the rest, as they say, is history. Today, the 34-year-old is one step away from becoming a UFC champion reaching the very top of his profession. Despite his father not being in his life, he, too, had an integral role to play in shaping him into who Rountree is today.

What happened to Khalil Rountree Jr.’s father Roderick Rountree?

“My father lived a great life. He was a very respectable man and he did a lot for the people around him… A lot of things I learned about my father were from stories people told about him… I  just always had that in the back of my mind when looking for inspiration to be a man,” Rountree once said.

Khalil Rountree Jr. was just two when his father, Roderick ‘Khalil’ Rountree was shot and killed. This means that the California native never knew his father and had to figure out what it meant to be a man by himself with some help from his brother. And what a role model Roderick would have been.

Khalil’s father was not only the long-time manager for Grammy-winning R&B group Boyz II Men but was also a universally respected member of his community. Shockingly, he was murdered back in 1992 at the Gold Coast Hotel in Chicago when he was on tour with the group.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Roderick was killed when he went out to investigate a disturbance in the hallway by three unknown men. In order to make sure things don’t escalate, Khalil ushered the three men into an elevator hoping to get them out. And that was the last thing he would do in his life- try to keep the peace and make sure there was no trouble, another indication of the type of man he was. Roderick never made it out of the elevator. He was shot and killed by three suspects when the doors closed.

But that wasn’t the story Khalil was told by his mother. Fearing the emotional impact it would have on the young Khalil, Khalil’s mother told him that Rountree Sr. passed away due to an illness. Eventually, when Khalil was eleven or thirteen, he would find out the truth.

The truth did mess with his head since he felt that his father was set up. ‘War Horse’ has spoken about how that led to very real anger, which he carried for a long time with him. And like many teens who go through such a traumatic revelation, Rountree could have acted out and broken bad.

But his father saved him from that fate. Khalil would fondly remember how people, often strangers, would walk up to him and tell him about how his father had helped them. Just hearing about what kind of a guy his late father was was enough for the UFC star, who became determined to follow his father’s example. Fortunately, he had the rest of his family to help him through the journey of becoming the kind of person his father would be proud of.

All we know about Khalil Rountree’s mother, brother & family

Khalil Rountree Jr. had two other role models who kept him on the straight and narrow: his mother and brother. His mother, Taryn Moret in fact, was what drove him to be as successful as he could be in MMA. An emotional Khalil would admit after one of his wins that he just wanted to make his mother proud and give her a good life.

But the person who deserves the lion’s share of credit in getting Khalil where he is today is his older brother Donovan Freelow. Not only did his elder brother step up as the primary male role model in Khalil’s life after their father’s passing, but gave him the motivation to pursue marital arts and stay the course, despite Khalil weighing over 300 pounds when he started his combat sports journey.

While Rountree became an athlete when he was nearly an adult, Freelow had always been an athletic kid. Before Freelow became a mixed martial artist (which he eventually quit in 2021), he had played football in his High School and the Quincy River College in California. Clearly, Khalil’s father has been a massive influence on him even after his death, and his family did a commendable job of picking up the slack after Khalil’s father passed away. What are your thoughts on Khalil Rountree’s inspiring life journey?