Maurice Greene Believes People Sleep on His Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills

After training with Gordon Ryan, Maurice Greene believes Renan Ferreira won't have any surprises to offer him on the ground.

Greene (11-8, 1-2 PFL) feels he has an edge over Ferreira before their clash in the Professional Fighters League playoffs on Aug. 18. To better prepare for his upcoming fight, Greene had the chance to attend some classes with grappling wizard Ryan, who thought a helpful series of techniques in jiu-jitsu that will likely be valuable for his assignment. While talking with Sherdog, Greene emphasized his proficiency on the mat and how people often overlook it. After all, he did score six submission wins in his career, three of which, thanks to his favorite submission maneuver, the arm-triangle choke. The Glory kickboxing alum also acknowledged the height and reach difference with his six-foot-eight-inches tall opponent, but he's not concerned as he has faced taller opponents before. Also, he trains with current Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones, who is known for perfectly using his reach.

“[Ryan] just taught us some real useful series — is what I'd call it — a series. What he happened to be teaching was something that will prove to be very useful for me next Friday night if we get in the jiu-jitsu realm. I think a lot of people sleep on my jiu-jitsu. They forget I got six wins by submission, which is more than my knockouts. Renan is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Like I said many times, I don't know who the f— gave him his black belt, or maybe he went to Macy's and bought a black belt for his jeans and he's saying he's a black belt. I guess we'll see.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:20) Working with the PFL crew
(01:21) Training with Gordon Ryan
(02:28) His favorite submission maneuver
(04:01) Smoking
(05:50) His opponent’s height
(07:24) Sparring with Jones
(09:05) Commenting on Ferreira’s fighting style
(10:50) Training in altitude
(11:58) His take on the Denis Goltsov-Jordan Heiderman matchup
(14:57) Hoping to face Goltsov again
(14:52) Outro