Ariel Helwani watched Max Kellerman call Zuffa Boxing\u2019s first event over the weekend and couldn\u2019t reconcile what he was hearing with the broadcaster he once idolized.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell happened to Max Kellerman?\u201d Helwani asked on his eponymous show. \u201cThere was once a time early in my career when I was telling my parents, \u2018I want to be the Max Kellerman of MMA.\u2019 He was a truth-teller.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a time early in my career when I was telling my parents, \u201cI want to be the Max Kellerman of MMA.\u201d He was the biggest truth-teller in all of boxing. I followed this guy\u2019s entire career and read everything about him.<\/p>\n
What the hell happened?<\/p>\n
For Zuffa Boxing to have a\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/g5XZ8wsTZH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Helwani has followed Kellerman\u2019s entire career, from his days hosting Max on Boxing\u00a0on New York cable access television, through his time at ESPN, HBO, and Fox Sports. He studied Kellerman\u2019s work, absorbed his approach to boxing commentary, and saw him as the antidote to everything that routinely dragged down combat sports coverage.<\/p>\n That version of Kellerman didn\u2019t show up for Zuffa Boxing\u2019s debut event. What Helwani heard instead was a broadcaster so eager to sell the product that he undermined the very credibility that once made him indispensable.<\/p>\n Kellerman and ESPN parted ways<\/a> in June 2023 as part of a massive round of layoffs that also included Jalen Rose, Jeff Van Gundy, and Suzy Kolber, though Kellerman continued collecting paychecks through the end of his contract. He resurfaced nearly two years later when TKO announced he would be part of the broadcast team for Zuffa Boxing<\/a>, the new boxing promotional venture launched by the parent company of UFC and WWE. The booth features Joe Tessitore<\/a> on play-by-play, Andre Ward<\/a> providing analysis, and Kellerman as the third voice, which on paper represents one of the strongest broadcasting teams in boxing right now.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Zuffa Boxing to have a broadcast team call fights at the apex where it\u2019s Joe Tessitore, Andre Ward, and Max Kellerman \u2014 that is an all-star team,\u201d Helwani admitted. \u201cThat might be the best booth in boxing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Talent, however, doesn\u2019t guarantee restraint.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a way to be appreciative of the opportunity, there\u2019s a way to hype it up without shilling and going over the top,\u201d Helwani continued. \u201cWhen he starts the broadcast saying that he literally had been waiting for this moment his entire life to have someone like Dana White come in and save boxing, it feels over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n Max Kellerman: I have literally been waiting for this, for right now, my entire life, since I was a little kid.pic.twitter.com\/0TlpkDYFQf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jed I. Goodman \u00a9 (@jedigoodman) January 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Kellerman repeatedly worked in references to TKO<\/a>, Dana White<\/a>, and Nick Khan<\/a>, often detached from what was actually happening in the ring. Khan\u2019s presence, in particular, was hard to ignore given his previous role as Kellerman\u2019s agent at CAA before becoming WWE president and eventually TKO co-CEO. Helwani didn\u2019t dispute the personal connection or the instinct to show loyalty, but he did argue that loyalty doesn\u2019t require abandoning editorial judgment, either.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can do that without going over the top, without sounding like a shill, without hurting your credibility,\u201d Helwan said. \u201cWhen you compare Callum Walsh to Roy Jones Jr., you are hurting your credibility. You just are.\u201d<\/p>\n Helwani also pointed to Kellerman\u2019s remarks at the post-event press conference as another example of the same issue. Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi royal bankrolling many of boxing\u2019s biggest events, warrants recognition for his financial impact on the sport. But framing the night as something that wouldn\u2019t exist if not for Alalshikh\u2019s very birth, nearly amounted to outright sycophancy, at least in Helwani\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re at the press conference, and you\u2019re saying, \u2018We wouldn\u2019t be here unless Turki Alalshikh was born,\u2019 it makes you look like a shill,\u201d Helwani said. \u201cMax Kellerman, I want you to understand, was the biggest truth-teller in boxing. He weeded through all the BS. He never showed any kind of bias toward any promoter. He was the kind of guy who would get up there and give you a soliloquy on HBO boxing and tell it to you like it is.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s the version of Kellerman that Helwani admired, the one who made him want to pursue a similar career in MMA journalism. The broadcaster who appeared on Saturday\u2019s Zuffa Boxing<\/a> event felt unrecognizable, almost like someone more concerned with pleasing the people who hired him than serving the audience that once trusted him.<\/p>\n Helwani acknowledged the unavoidable conflict that comes with working directly for a promoter, a dynamic Kellerman never faced during his years at HBO. But he flatly rejected the notion that credibility must be the casualty, pointing out that plenty of broadcasters manage to navigate those waters without surrendering their voice.<\/p>\n \u201cI know he works for a promoter now, but you can still kind of be that guy and work for the promoter,\u201d Helwani said. \u201cYou could still do that. This is over the top. And dare I say, unlistenable? He is insufferable on these broadcasts. Ward isn\u2019t. Tessitore isn\u2019t. Molly Qerim isn\u2019t. Why does he feel like he has to go over the top like this? Why is this the guy who is known to be the biggest truth-teller of them all, the guy who pulled no punches, the guy who told you like it is, why is he doing this?\u201d<\/p>\n