5 Things You Might Not Know About Maurice Greene

Maurice Greene and his near-seven-foot wingspan have closed to within arm’s reach of a life-changing seven-figure payday.

The affable 37-year-old will lock horns with Renan Ferreira when their 2023 Professional Fighters League heavyweight semifinal headlines PFL 8 on Friday inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. A short-notice replacement for the injured Marcelo Nunes, Greene has alternated wins and losses in each of his past four outings. He last fought at PFL 5, where he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Ante Delija in their three-round encounter on June 16.

As Green makes final preparations for his high-stakes showdown with Ferreira, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He buys into proper preparation.

Greene has operated out of The Performance Compound, Factory X and Jackson-Wink MMA, drawing upon the expertise of various world-class coaches, from Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Extreme Cagefighting and One Championship veteran Brock Larson to Marc Montoya, Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn. He currently trains alongside reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

2. Gold lined his regional resume.

The Norfolk, Virginia, native laid claim to the Driller Promotions heavyweight championship when he turned away Parnell Davis with a first-round arm-triangle choke in their “No Mercy 6” main event on Sept. 30, 2017. It remains Greene’s only appearance with the Minnesota-based organization.

3. He held his own at the highest level.

Greene was cast on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series in 2018. He punched out Przemyslaw Mysiala to advance in the competition before submitting to a Juan Espino rear-naked choke in the heavyweight semifinals. Greene went on to compile a 4-4 record across eight appearances in the UFC, his victories over Michel Batista, Jeff Hughes, Junior Albini and Gian Villante offset by losses to Sergei Pavlovich, Alexey Oleynik, Greg Hardy and Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

4. Some might call his itinerary limited.

Only one of his 19 professional bouts has taken place outside of the continental United States. Greene succumbed to punches from the aforementioned Pavlovich a little more than two minutes into their UFC 246 pairing on Oct. 26, 2019 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

5. He uses his hands outside the cage.

Greene crochets in his spare time, hence “The Crochet Boss” nickname. “My stitches are impeccable,” he told Newsweek in a March 2019 interview, which listed UFC President Dana White as being among those who have worn hats he has stitched together.