My name is Maurice Greene and I am “The Crochet Boss.”
I’m competing as a heavyweight on this season of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters on FS1, and this is my weekly UFC.com blog. Thanks for stopping in!
They did a great job on the show last night introducing me, so I don’t think I really have to do too much of that here. But if there’s one thing you need to know about me, it’s not that I’m a pro fighter or that I’m the world’s most intimidating crochetter - it’s that everything I do, I do for my family.
I’m so happy with how my relationship with my family was the focus of my episode last night. It was very hard to be completely sequestered from them and our life at home, but it was a sacrifice I had to make for all of us. There’s a six-figure UFC contract on the table, and I’d crawl from Minnesota to Vegas to get my hands on that.
I was also very happy to have the opportunity to fight first, but what a roller coaster of emotions that was. There are so many nerves that come with fighting first. You’re setting the tone of the whole season, really. Backstage, it was pretty emotional getting ready for the fight. Then you walk out and it hits you - there’s not a million people screaming. It’s literally just producers, your teammates and coaches. Plus it’s like 4:30 in the afternoon.
Everything about the whole experience tells you it’s really just a sparring session, but you have to drill it in your head that it’s an actual fight, and the stakes have never been higher.
Ultimately, I was able to keep my range and get the win. I’m pretty happy with my Octagon debut, all things considered. I think I showed some flashes of what I’m capable of doing, but I also know I can do a lot more than that. To celebrate, I may have had an adult beverage back at the TUF house.
Well, here’s to another great season of The Ultimate Fighter.
