Albuquerque's 'Crochet Boss' relaxed and ready ahead of MMA bout

Aug. 16—If there's no such thing as a must-win situation, Maurice Greene's MMA fight on Friday qualifies as a reasonable facsimile.

If he can beat Brazil's Renan Ferreira on a Professional Fighters League card at New York's Madison Square Garden, he'll advance to the final of a PFL heavyweight tournament and the possibility of a $1 million payday.

If he loses, well, kiss it goodbye.

Nervous? Not at all, at least judging from Greene's Zoom interview on Wednesday.

Girded physically and mentally by his preparation under the watchful eye of his friend and mentor Jon Jones, he'll take what comes.

Greene, who lives in Albuquerque, crochets as a hobby and fights people for a living, entertained as well as informed throughout the 18-minute interview.

"The Crochet Boss," has engaged in considerable trash talk this week in an apparent attempt to get in Ferreira's head. He was asked how important the mental game is when two ultra-physical, 250-pound-plus men collide.

"You know, I've mentally defeated myself sometimes before I even got to the cage," he said. "But everybody's different and everybody's process is a little different."

Through his work with Jones, Greene said, he'd spent some time with Olympic wrestling gold medalist and two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo.

"Henry kind of let us know it's mental warfare," he said. "It's mental warfare before the fight.

"Maybe (trash talk) gets (Ferreira) off his game a little bit. Maybe it won't. But I'm gonna do it."

Greene qualified for Friday's semifinal only because Marcelo Nunes was ruled out due to injury. Greene, who'd been an alternate after losing to Ante Delija in his previous PFL fight, said he'd mentally prepared himself to step in.

"I'd gotten right back to camp, even though I'd lost my last fight and I was out," he said. "I had the idea that 'something's gonna happen, Maurice, and you're gonna get your opportunity to come back.'

"So I treated it like that, and when I got the call it was business as usual."

Greene, a Virginia native with Midwestern roots, earned a UFC contract through his participation on The Ultimate Fighter 28 in 2018. He won his first three UFC fights, but four losses in his next five fights cost him that contract.

"I wasn't ready for the opportunity I had when I was in the UFC," he said. "When the competition got tough and it was time to really step up and train harder and harder ... (I did) what most fighters do. You get a little bit soft and start thinking you're the man."

Greene had come to Albuquerque in 2020 to train at Jackson-Wink. There he formed a friendship and working relationship with Jones, the longtime UFC light heavyweight champion and an enduring presence at Albuquerque's most successful MMA gym.

Then, in September 2021, Jones was arrested on domestic-violence charges in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jackson-Wink co-founder Mike Winkeljohn responded by banning Jones from the gym, a decision not intended to be permanent. But Jones, angered by Winkeljohn's move, chose not to return.

Shortly thereafter, Greene left Jackson-Wink and began training with Jones.

His work with Jones, he said, "kind of reignited that flame, kind of like seeing the process of not just a world champion but the process of the GOAT, the greatest MMA fighter to ever do this."

Greene said he sees Jones less as a coach and an advisor but simply as the training partner he's always been.

"We started this process training together," he said. "We still train together ... We're training partners. I do most things with Jon."

Greene has no ongoing relationship with Jackson-Wink, despite some reports to the contrary, and said he wanted to make that clear.

"Tell everybody this," he said. "I don't know why everybody thinks I still train at Jackson-Wink.

"I parted ways with Jackson-Wink around (the time) that whole thing happened with Jon, for my own personal reasons."

As of Wednesday, Greene (11-8) was a massive underdog against Ferreira (10-3) at +475, meaning a bet of $100 on Greene would produce a payout of $475. Ferreira was at -600, meaning a bet of $600 on the Brazilian would pay $100.