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<\/a><\/p>\nGreene quickly realized that if he wanted to have any kind of career in acting, he had to put the same kind of dedication towards learning that craft as he did with MMA.<\/p>\n
That career started largely because Greene was an overweight kid get who got bullied, and it wasn\u2019t until a friend asked him if he was interested in fighting that he was motivated enough to learn martial arts so he could get in shape. A month later, Greene was taking his first fight.<\/p>\n
Even now, it\u2019s hard for Greene to wrap his head around the fact that he eventually made it all the way to the top of the sport when he got signed to the UFC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a fat boy who got picked on, never fought a day in my life,\u201d Greene said. \u201cLost 100 pounds, starting fighting, took my first fight in 30 days. Kept saying I was going to be in the UFC, the dudes laughed at me in the gym.<\/p>\n
\u201cMade it on The Ultimate Fighter, went to the UFC, was in the PFL, did some bare-knuckle. A real journeyman as they would say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greene grew to love fighting but he endured a terrifying injury during one of his final appearances in the UFC that effectively changed everything for him \u2014 he just didn\u2019t know it at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring my Greg Hardy camp, my arms and legs went numb during that camp,\u201d Greene revealed. \u201cI was having complications with my nerves going into that fight, and after the first round, my right arm was completely numb. I got the feeling back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the second time in my career now, first time in a fight that everything just went numb. He hit me in the top of the head, compressed my spine, arms and legs went numb.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was definitely scary but not enough to make Greene walk away from fighting so he kept moving forward with his career. He ultimately competed eight more times past that Greg Hardy fight, but it was his final appearance in Mike Perry\u2019s Dirty Boxing promotion in early 2025 that solidified his decision to call it a career.<\/p>\n
Following a feel-good moment when he wrapped up a submission win over fellow UFC veteran Chase Sherman in a bare-knuckle MMA fight, Greene then booked his appearance in Dirty Boxing. He ultimately suffered a blistering 45-second knockout loss in a fight against Rakim Cleveland.<\/p>\n
To be clear, Greene has the utmost respect for Cleveland and gave him credit for the win but he also knows competing that night was just a bad idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no business losing to him,\u201d Greene said. \u201cI had no business losing to a guy like him. I should have beat him. But sometimes you just can\u2019t fight what your body says you can\u2019t do. I should have won that fight. Had we won that fight, we may be having a different conversation but this outcome was always coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always been a worry of mine. I get hit in the neck, I got zings in my fingers. This has been going on since the Greg Hardy fight, and we risk it, risk it, risk it for the biscuit. I never got the biscuit. I got crumbs. You feel me? It\u2019s time to go get the whole cake now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The harsh realization following that loss led to Greene deciding that he was retiring from fighting and putting his full attention on his new career in acting while also making sure he was going to be present for his wife and kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m done fighting. I\u2019m done,\u201d Greene said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a nice 15 year long career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to put that energy that I put into training for so many years into my kids and my family and acting. MMA was very good to me, I made it further than most. People talk shit, they can say what they want. He wasn\u2019t this, he wasn\u2019t that \u2026 I\u2019m proud of my body of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fighting may be finished but Greene is just getting started with his new career.<\/p>\n
After scoring several small roles and staying busy with stunt work, Greene landed his part in the new movie Him, but truth be told, he didn\u2019t even know much about the film until he got cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get an audition, I get a breakdown, it kind of gives me a little bit but I mean you don\u2019t know the magnitude of it,\u201d Greene said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know magnitude until maybe you go your fitting or maybe when you go to your fitting you can see the cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI treat everything pretty much the same. I try to give it my all every time I get to be on set, it\u2019s a privilege to be selected to be on set. Who knows how many auditions they saw, but they liked mine. So when you show up, you show up to do the job and you focus in. I\u2019m excited to see what it\u2019s going to look like. A great cast, crew, director. It was cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
For his highest-profile role to date, Greene stars alongside Tyriq Withers \u2014 a football player named Cameron Cade, who suffers an unspeakable tragedy that potentially ends his playing career but that\u2019s when he receives a lifeline with an invitation to train alongside Isaiah White \u2014 a multi-time champion quarterback portrayed by Marlon Wayans. It\u2019s only after he arrives at White\u2019s compound that Cameron realizes there\u2019s something much darker and sinister at work during these training sessions and it may cost him more than he ever bargained for.<\/p>\n
The first trailer showed a maniacal looking Greene with blood splashed across his face as he engaged with Wither\u2019s character during an intense training session. Him opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, and Greene can\u2019t wait for the rest of the world to see what unfolds on screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m beyond excited,\u201d Greene said. \u201cI really just can\u2019t wait for it to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n
This may be the first major release to feature Greene\u2019s name in the credits, but he knows it won\u2019t be his last. He\u2019s already filmed a few other parts in upcoming films and TV shows, but Greene promises that the hard work doesn\u2019t stop just because he\u2019s not punching people for a living anymore.<\/p>\n
In fact, Greene says that\u2019s one lesson he took from MMA that he continues to use in his new job.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just like MMA. Acting is hard in itself,\u201d Greene said. \u201cIt\u2019s taxing on the brain, it\u2019s taxing on the body. Any time, I can learn something from being on set or for stunts or for acting, I\u2019m going to do it every time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do a lot. You learn a lot. I\u2019m getting smaller roles. I\u2019m doing stunt roles. I would assume these actors who have these bigger roles, who are higher up on the call sheet, it\u2019s tough. You\u2019ve got to stay locked in all the time. It\u2019s just like MMA. It just reminds me of the same grind, but we\u2019re using different muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n