Im not sure but I think one guy on cgsociety seems to be using mental ray in maya(no gi or ao just normal lights) instead just so that he can avoid these kind of issues http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=234&t=598732 As you can see from his results it doesnt quite look the same as a viewport render :P
Well this guy at cgsociety seems to have got permission to do just that he says "Octostatue: Thanks as always! I'm using MentalRay. Everything is in the textures. There's no FG or GI and all lights are straight up Maya lights. No CIEds, blackbodys, MR area lights, etc. etc. I had raised this question before as I was…