Years before he became one of the UFC’s top light heavyweights, Khalil Rountree Jr. was fighting a much different battle.
Before climbing to No. 5 rank in the UFC’s 205-pound division, the 36-year-old said he spent years quietly battling depression while trying to find direction in his life.
Now, during Mental Health Awareness Month, Rountree Jr. is speaking openly about those experiences in hopes of helping others do the same.
“At 19, I was in the most depressed state that I’ve ever been in my life,” Rountree Jr. said. “I didn’t have any direction, I didn’t have any spark, I didn’t have any hope to even see the next day.”
Everything changed when he found MMA at 20 years old.
“I think the sport allowed me to find my inner strength,” Rountree Jr. said. “I didn’t grow up playing sports or anything competitive, so when I started MMA, it was kind of a shot in the dark. But being able to train MMA and be around a bunch of guys in the gym teaching me how to do these things, I was able to find that I’m capable of more than I thought I was.”
That shift is now part of a broader message he is sharing this month through a Mental Health Awareness Month campaign with UFC, Paramount+, and the Child Mind Institute centered on “Mental Health Fitness.”
Alongside Rountree Jr., the project features UFC light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg, former flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, and lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett, each of whom appears in videos sharing how they approach mental preparation inside and outside the octagon.
Rountree Jr.’s video has not yet been released, but is expected to be posted soon.
Rountree Jr. was also in the New York and New Jersey area earlier this month for community events tied to the initiative, including the opening of the UFC Foundation’s first youth wellness center at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark on May 6.
The space was created in partnership with the UFC Foundation, Paramount+, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, HBSE, the Devils Youth Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Newark. UFC athletes, New Jersey Devils players, community leaders, and local youth attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
There, Rountree Jr. spent time teaching boxing to local kids and noted the goal was simple: to show them what is possible.
“I hope that they saw something in me and the guys from the Devils that allowed them to believe that they can also be something,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be an athlete, but hopefully they saw something in us that inspired them to take care of themselves, take care of their communities, and just be great.”
Outside the cage, Rountree Jr. said music was his first outlet growing up in Los Angeles.
“I grew up wanting to learn many different instruments,” he said. “It was how I had fun and escaped from my own realities.”
That creativity still shows up in his training.
“Even if I’m punching the bag, I’m trying to create certain rhythms and drum patterns just to keep my brain interested in training,” he said.
For Rountree Jr., finding outlets like music growing up and MMA later on has been important. He said that’s something he tries to pass on now, encouraging others to find whatever helps them stay grounded.
“I hope that I make it clear enough to let people know that it’s encouraged and totally okay to seek professional help,” he said. “I think that one of the things that can be misconstrued is being told, ‘Talk to a friend,’ or to a family member, but I understand that sometimes that’s really uncomfortable. I hope that I say it loud enough, clear enough to people, to where they are encouraged to seek professional help and to seek resources.”
Rountree Jr. noted that he took time for himself after his loss to Jiří Procházka at UFC 320 in October, stepping away to focus on his mental health before returning to the gym.
“I don’t have an actual fight scheduled yet, but I am back into training,” Rountree Jr. said. “After my last fight, I did lose, I made an active decision to take time away to rebuild my mental health. My last fight was in October. It was a lot on me emotionally, but I made a decision to take as much time as I needed before I agreed to get back in the cage and compete. I never want to go back into a fight not feeling like I’m in the correct headspace.”
“Now I’m starting to feel a lot better, a lot more motivated, a lot more clear, with a lot more purpose. It’s about time for me to start looking to get into another fight.”
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