UFC New Orleans: Has the promotion ever been to the Louisiana city?

The UFC is widely regarded as the premier MMA organization in the world today. Considering that, it isn't all too surprising to see the organization put forth events in a myriad of locations around the globe. Speaking of which, there are a few notable cities that hosted the MMA organization's events in the promotion's early days but haven't hosted any of its events as of late.

One such notable city is New Orleans in the US state of Louisiana. The state of Louisiana has produced several notable UFC fighters. This includes retired MMA great Daniel Cormier, current UFC fan favorite lightweight Dustin Poirier, former UFC welterweight Alan Jouban, former UFC women's bantamweight and flyweight athlete Liz Carmouche, and current UFC middleweight Brendan Allen.

In its early days, the UFC put forth multiple events in New Orleans. Some of the events organized in the Louisiana city include UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou, UFC 18: The Road to the Heavyweight Title, and UFC 27: Ultimate Bad Boyz. With that being said, the UFC has visited NOLA just twice since September 2000.

The organization's two most recent events that transpired in New Orleans, Louisiana, were UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger (which took place in 2011) and UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson (which was organized in 2015).

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Dustin Poirier teases return at potential UFC New Orleans event

Louisiana native Dustin Poirier recently took to his official Twitter account to suggest that he could compete at a potential UFC event in New Orleans next. Apparently, 'The Diamond' has lately been looking for an opponent for his highly-anticipated return to the octagon. Poirier's most recent fight witnessed him defeat Michael Chandler via third-round submission in November 2022.

Earlier this week, Dustin Poirier posted a tweet, wherein he hinted that he'd like to compete at a possible UFC New Orleans event. As of this time, the UFC is yet to announce any events for New Orleans, Louisiana in its 2023 schedule. Regardless, the former interim UFC lightweight champion tweeted:

"UFC New Orleans??!!"

While 'The Diamond's' next opponent and exact comeback date hasn't been officially confirmed, he recently expressed interest in facing Justin Gaethje in a rematch next.

A Twitter user recently proposed a possible number-one contender's matchup between Poirier and Gaethje, with the winner facing lightweight champion Islam Makhachev for the title in October. Poirier seemingly agreed with the user and tweeted:

"Let's go"