Ahhh, it's a new year. Which means the holidays are now over and I'll be back to blogging regularly again. First, I hope you enjoyed your holidays and I also hope you enjoyed the plethora of MMA action on display right around New Year's Eve throughout the world.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'll be adding a couple of new features to the blog. But, before I talk about those features, let me make a couple of final points about UFC 79. My recap of the event is up here at SI.com and I specifically focused on what the results of that event mean for some of its fighters in 2008.

Now, back to the event itself. As I mentioned previously, my wife was in the arena that night and it was her first UFC event ever. And, she came away very impressed. I consider my wife a casual MMA fan. She knows the sport but she's by no means planning her life around events or TV shows. Given the choice between a shopping spree at Caesar's Forum or a UFC event, she'd most likely choose the former.

Regardless, she knows the main actors and enjoys the sporting aspect of the fights. And, she came away from UFC 79 wanting more (as in "let's attend every UFC event from now on!"). Some of her comments were instructive, though. To her, the only fights that really mattered were the three main fights. Outside of those fights, she indicated she wasn't that interested in the rest of the card. I believe her sentiments can be applied to much of the general MMA audience right now. Marquee matchups are what these fans look for. Can the UFC brand carry a night of fights? Sure, for hardcore fans it definitely can. But, to convert the casual fans into hardcore fans, UFC needs to continue to put at least one or two GSP-Hughes or Liddell-Silva caliber fights on each card.

No matter what the purists say, MMA is a combat sport, and traditionally speaking, combat sports require a storyline that heightens the drama of the fight itself. Along with that, the fight itself has to pit fighters who are considered intriguing, at least in part because they are at or near the top of their games.

UFC 79 had all these ingredients and more. There was energy in the crowd going into the fights and the fights themselves didn't disappoint. It was MMA at its finest. If mainstream America sees more cards like this, there is no reason the sport can't continue to grow. But, yes, matchmaking is of the utmost importance. Do the fighters have to cooperate and put on great performances? Sure, but as we saw Saturday night, the great ones usually oblige.

Walking through the Mandalay Bay after the fights, I was stopped a couple of times by strangers who had no idea if I was a MMA fan or not, but who asked anyway if I'd been to the fights and if Chuck had won. Yes, to mainstream America, he does indeed have one name. Liddell (or Chuck) alone can carry most cards. These strangers also wanted to find out about the GSP-Hughes fight. Beyond that, not much interest.

Of course, that doesn't mean there weren't other intriguing fights on the card. But it does mean that for UFC and other promotions to grow, there needs to be a hook. Chuck, Tito, GSP, Rampage -- these guys sell tickets and bring new fans in.

Dana White also said something interesting about attracting blue chip sponsors at the post-UFC 79 press conference. He said that once the execs at these companies attend a UFC event, they are hooked on the product. I can believe it. It happened to my wife, but as many noticed Saturday night, it also happened to the execs at Harley-Davidson and Lumber Liquidators.

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Now, about this blog. A couple of other writers in the mainstream media are forming a network and we'll be sharing our top material from each week. So, every Friday you can come to this blog and get a sampling of what some of the other MMA writers throughout the country are talking about. It's a great idea and I'd like to thank Carlos Arias of the OC Register for approaching me with the idea and really organizing the effort. Start looking for this to start soon (maybe tomorrow?).

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And, as some of you may remember, before I began covering MMA for the Sun way back in November 2006, I had actually started taking BJJ classes with Lee Synkowski at Baltimore BJJ. Well, after a year hiatus, I went back into the gym about a month ago and I'm now regularly attending classes again a couple of hours a week. I hope to incorporate what I'm learning into the blog, whether that be through a discussion of technique or some other manner. So, look for that. And, if you have ideas on how I can use my personal BJJ experiences in my writing, feel free to drop me a line.

Take it easy and happy new year.