UFC in Louisiana in 2009?

Picture from Louisiana Fight Club; Reported in The Shreveport Times and MMA Mania:

"Louisiana and New Orleans is [sic] on our radar," UFC vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner told The Times... "We’ve already had a couple of different dates, but had conflicts. We’ll keep looking and find a date that works for everyone."

"I have a good rapport with the Fertitta family," said [Alvin] Topham [Chairman of the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission], who met with UFC’s brass at the organization’s blockbuster show featuring Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture in Las Vegas on Nov. 15. "They told me they were interested in coming to Louisiana and putting on a show sometime this summer."

Louisiana was instrumental in the early days of the UFC.  Consider that they hosted events 16, 18, 22, 24, 27, and 37, all but the last in the "Dark Days" before Zuffa's involvment.  Melvin Guillard, Rich Clementi, and Tim Credeur are all UFC fighters, and most seasons of TUF have had a native in the cast, which shows how active the gyms are.  GSP would certainly be appreciated since any Québécois star is gloriously welcome here (note the fleur-de-lis tattoo on his right calf )

The state is still hurting from Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and the currently-chaotic oil industry, so any influx of tourism is needed.  The Superdome and New Orleans Arena are great places to watch sports, concerts, and the like.  Even the Cajundome in Lafayette could hold a large crowd (12,068) if they don't want the extra expences of booking a 70,000 capacity building and wasting most of those seats.  There are plenty of people down here who are fans.  Local MMA shows (of which there are a decent number) always do well.  Give us a good card, not some overhyped mid-level fighters, and many fans from the south will attend.

Of course, this is also a personal plea because I live here.  S’il vous plaît venir ici?