Anyone know how to make Maya more WYSIWYG?

I have no experience with maya, but it looks like a really bright light is shining on the rendered picture. Perhaps your preview image does not include all of the lighting sources/effects?

I know with other programs there is a default light in the scene. Until you add one yourself. Try adding in your own light and diffusers etc. I agree with the post above mine. To bright of a light on the object.

maya does have a default light but it isnt that bright. If you did create a light then it's most likely too bright. You can either lower the light intensity or make the green texture less affected by light.

The best way too see what your render will look like lighting wise is to choose 'view all lights' in the render menu in your viewport (it's probably set on the default light right now). If you didnt create a light then your scene will just be black with this option turned on, but if you did create a light you'll see the direction and intensity of the light similar (but not always) to how it will look in the render.

if the lights dont fix the problem, try messing around with the texture. Create a new texture for the object just to make sure the settings are the default and not out of whack. You can then adjust the luminance of the texture to make it more/less reactive to light.