Happy Birthday to us: MMAmania.com turns three

The first-ever show from the new-look Strikeforce MMA was not the only milestone to take place this weekend: MMAmania.com celebrated its third birthday in typical silent fashion.

None of our loyal readers bothered to send us their good wishes, but that's okay, we're used to giving all we got and receiving little in return.

That's just how we roll ... and how we have handled our business since Day One.

Kidding aside, I just want to take the opportunity to quickly thank all of you and everyone behind the scenes who allow us to do what we do, which is scouring the Web, delivering exclusive content and breaking news frequently all in one convenient location.

If you haven't noticed, we also like to have a little fun along the way. It makes all those late nights, early mornings and long days (even holidays) worth every ounce of energy we put into this online mixed martial arts machine.

We never take ourselves too seriously. And I think that resonates with most of you -- this is all about discussing a great sport within in a tight-knit community of knowledgeable (sans the handful of inevitable trolls) and hardcore fans.

The best part is we've just scratched the surface.

Most of you know we have now joined SB Nation, which essentially will translate into a better user experience for all of you. We have some great people working behind the scenes to ensure that MMAmania.com 4.0 is the best one yet.

Stay tuned in the weeks and months ahead for more detailed updates. But trust me when I say there are some truly great and innovative things on the horizon.

I don't want to turn this into a tree-hugging love or all out bash-fest. So in typical MMAmania.com fashion, I'd like to propose a contest that is fitting of such a moment.

Here it is:

1. Guess the number of posts we have published to date (Hint: It's more than one and less than 10,000)
2. Find and send a link of our first-ever post (Hint: It was about three years ago)
3. BRIEFLY share your first cherry-popping experience on MMAmania.com

That's it. Again, post your findings in the comments section below or email them to us at fan-AT-mmamania.com if you want to keep it a deep, dark secret.

Those who come relatively close in satisfying all the above criteria get MMAmania.com shirts from me for free. Ain't that swell? Hopefully, by the time our next anniversary rolls around we'll be able to up the ante, but we won't be able to accomplish that without your support ... no matter how maddening that can often be (John, Kevin, Introvert and all of the other outspoken members of our community ... I'm looking at you!)

So keep it coming. And tell all your friends to do the same. Spread the word!

Thanks again to everyone, whether you stop in once a week or 100 times a day. We couldn't do it without you all. And thanks to everyone on our staff, Jesse, James, Adam, Stefan and any others who contribute, churning out good shit and putting up with mine.

As you were, Maniacs!

First comment EVER on MMAmania.com (formerly UFCmania.com):

Here is the post. CLICK HERE.