In a dark segment before the April 15 episode of SmackDown, LA Knight appeared as a villainous manager by announcing his new stable, "Knight Model Management", and became the manager of Mace and Mansoor. The angle went to television on the May 20 episode of SmackDown, when he made his televised debut on the brand under the ring name Max Dupri. He would announce Mace and Mansoor, under the tweaked names "ma.çé" and "mån.sôör", as Maximum Male Models.
On the July 22 episode of SmackDown, he would then be joined by his storyline sister, Maxxine Dupri.
Dupri ended his relationship with Maximum Male Models on the September 30 episode of SmackDown. The following week, he beat down Mace and Mansoor and reverted to his LA Knight persona.