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For those of you who follow MMA, you obviously know who Anderson Silva is. He’s the UFC’s 23-4 middleweight champ, and generally accepted best pound-for-pound fighter in the world right now. But who you may not know is Demian Maia, a 9-0 up and coming jiu jitsu ace. And by "jiu jitsu ace", i mean ri-fucking-diculous at jiu jitsu… probably one of the top 3 grapplers in the world.

I was blown away by his submission of Nate Quarry last weekend at UFC 91 — not because Nate Quarry is great fighter, he’s not — but simply because he pulled half-guard, swept him, took the back and choked him out in a total of about 30 seconds.

So does he have a fight with Anderson Silva coming up? Well… no, he’s got at least one more fight (potentially against Michael Bisping) before he gets his title shot. So why am I talking about it?  Well, because as far off as it is, I actually think Demian Maia can and — dare I say it… WILL — beat Anderson Silva in the future!

People say that the best style against Silva is wrestling… wrong. The problem with wrestlers is that they’re generally bad at finishing fights. They might catch you with some strikes if you have weak stand-up, or they might lay on top of you for 3 rounds and grind out a decision if you have a weak ground game — but Silva isn’t weak in either of those area, plus you get him for 5 rounds. No, the best style against Anderson Silva is elite level jiu jitsu, elite enough to control someone who has a black bet themselves.

There are a couple guys with that elite level jiu jitsu in the middle weight division: Paulo Fihlo, Rousimar Palhares, maybe even Travis Lutter. The problem with these guys is that they have horrible conditioning. If they don’t get a submission in the first round, they basically give up. Demian Maia doesn’t have that problem — and he’s even a notch above these guys skill-wise.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling. If you’re still reading at this point, just remember this: Assuming the middle weight title race pans out as I expect, I’m going on record and saying that Demian Maia will work his way up to a title shot and beat Anderson silva ~8 months from now. Now here’s some sweet footage of Maia owning people on the mats. Love this music…

I had a few friends staying at my place last weekend, so we decided to take a walk over to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market is really cool indoor market on 15th and 9th with a bunch of boutique type shops and eateries. A lot of times they have art displays or musicians as well, which is nice.

Anyway, they have a small coffee shop in there called Ninth Street Expresso. I hadn’t noticed it before, but I grabbed a latte this time around and it was awesome! The menu is really simple; there aren’t even sizes. You just pick your drink: expresso, americano, latte, mocha, etc., and pay (cash only). If you’re in the neighborhood, check it out… or better yet, call me and give me an excuse to run over there with you. I attached a pic of my latte to the right — beeaauutiful (I felt guilty drinking it).

No, I don’t mean that ABC show with a bunch of middle-aged women bickering about topics that make men want to take a drill to their temple… I’m talking about the sweet view from my new NYC apartment! This summer I made the move from my previous apartment over in Gramercy Park to a one bedroom in Chelsea. Although my other place was nice, this one is definitely a step up, particularly when it comes to having a view — which is hugely important to me, since I spend most of my days working from home. After 2 years of seeing nothing but a brick office building, I’m thrilled to finally have something pretty to look at while I’m stuck at my desk. Is it the best view in the city? nah… but it’s not bad! Check it out:

Looking north at the Empire State building during the day

Looking north at the Empire State building at night

Looking west towards the Hudson during the day

Looking west towards the Hudson at night

Guaranteed. This is the best breakfast shake/smoothie you’ll ever make…at least when you combine the fact that it’s easy to make, healthy, and delicious. Here’s what you need:

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup of skim milk
• 3 - 4 ice cubes
• 1 scoop of protein power
• 1 tablespoon of flax seed oil

Just put all this stuff in a blender, blend it for 15 seconds, and you’re all set! It’s easy, trust me. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be making it.

Here’s the thought behind the nutrition end of it. The banana provides some carbs and nutrients like potassium, along with giving the shake flavor and thickness. The skim milks add some more nutrients like calcium, as well as some protein. The ice cubes chill the shake, lighten it a little bit, and work as a thickening agent as well. The protein powder is obviously for protein. A lot of powders suggest 2 scoops, but I only add one since we’re already getting some protein from the milk — adding more is a waste, because your body can’t absorb all of it. Lastly, the flax seed oil adds some really heart-heathly, unsaturated fats to the mix (the kind of fats you actually want).

Two quick notes: First, do use a ripe banana, overly ripe, mushy even! It will actually make the shake taste better. Second, I’d recommend a vanilla flavored protein mix. I’m a big fan of BioChem Sports’ 100% Whey which is sold at Whole Foods, because it doesn’t have any extra crap in it, but go with whatever you like.

I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot. I find that bananas really work the best, but I’ve also used strawberries, rasberries, blueberries, and even mandrin oranges, so feel free to mix it up. Enjoy!

My younger brother texted me the other night and asked me if I’d be interested in buying a motorcycle with him (Read: buy a motorcycle for him). He said it was a 850cc Yahama from the 80’s and it was $750 — so the images running through my head weren’t pretty, but he sent me a pic today and it’s actually not bad:

If you take off the sound system between the handlebars, and those goofy-ass rear speakers, it’s not a bad looking bike — at least for starters. I’m toying with the idea of throwing down for it and having him fix it up. I’d like to get my license at some point, and this would give both of us a bike to learn on and use for the test. I don’t get home to NJ all that often, so riding before the winter might be out of the question, but at least I’ll have something to do when I make it home next spring.

Anyway, we’ll see how this one pans out. He still has to get the idea to slide with my parents (who, not surprisingly, are out of town this week). If he can get my dad into the idea of a fix it up project, he might have a shot… a small shot…