So everyone is buggin' out over the new layout, but chances are, no one really remembers the first incarnation of MMAmania.com back in 2006. It was a dark, knockout-print WordPress plug-in template that looked like some hack writer looking for a hobby cobbled it together in 10 minutes.

In fact, I think I spent more time trying to figure out how to map the original domain, UFCmania.com, than the actual template selection.

Didn't seem to matter, though, because "Mania" was literally one of the few mixed martial arts (MMA) fan-centric blogs on the Internet. Fight fans came for the content, not the "look and feel."

Now those were the days!

You cats got it good now. Hell, maybe even too good if all ya'll are complaining about is how the site looks. It's looked worse, way worse, and if I remember correctly, when we switched over to the SB Nation platform sometime circa 2008, all these complaints sounded familiar.

Then, we went through a refresh about a year later, and, again, ya'll cried foul. But, guess what, you still stuck around until this latest switch-a-roo, and I'm pretty sure once you un-sprain your ovaries, you'll learn to love this format, too ... just like all the rest.

Suckers.

I'm digging it. Sure, it sucks to have to spend 45 minutes to format a post these days, but the finished product is well worth the extra effort. And I'm pretty certain that as we get adjusted to all the cool "backend" nuances that we can make your "frontend" experience that much better.

Anyway ...

I've been yapping about t-shirts for years, maybe even months. And guess what ... I really I have them, see:

So as a "Thank You" for sticking around for the latest transformation -- rather than just waiting to say "I Told You So" a few months from now -- I'm sending these t-shirts out to the Mania O.G.'s on my dime. Free of charge. First-come, first served. O.G.'s only. And the only way O.G.'s get them is by emailing ME direct with your size (Small, medium and larges only ... sorry fatboys), mailing address and SCREEN NAME (this is OG-importante. Muy, muy OG-importante).

While supplies last.

Kevin need not apply (I sent him like 25 a few years ago and I'm pretty sure his promise to deckout the O.G.'s at the time went unfulfilled, much like everything else he ever said or did.)

Now "Rec" this so it sticks to the top so everyone can see it since the new version "sucks" and only features two.