This past weekend the UFC ventured into another state for the first time, this one being the state of Minnesota with over 15,000 fans packing into the Target Center for a record setting gate within the state and once again flexing the muscle of their promotional arm.

Few companies in the history of either shoot or worked combat sports have ever been in the position the UFC is currently in right now. You could look at the early 80's peak of Southwest Sports (which produced the World Class Championship Wrestling program), the mid to late 80's boom for the World Wrestling Federation and their 1998-2001 peak period as well as the Pride Fighting Championships run from late 2001 through 2004. These are periods in history where everything the promotion touched turned to gold. The question now becomes how the UFC can further capitalize on this huge success with the drawing cards they have created in the respective weight class divisions.

Stadium shows seem to be a viable option for the company in specific markets and with the right fighters placed in key spots on the show with the right opponent. After UFC 83 in Montreal, Dana White was asked about the potential of running Olympic Stadium as opposed to the Bell Centre for their inaugural Canadian voyage and White displayed a reluctance and fear that he could not fill such a venue and come out with the books inked in black - a rare trait for a promoter with as much success as White has had in the last 3-years to convey to members of the media.

Right now the UFC is sitting on a dream rematch between Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and Lightweight Champion B.J Penn that I believe could easily fill Olympic Stadium - however, if Montreal is not in the plans that what better than - Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. Mixed Martial Arts will officially be deemed "legal" within the state of Hawaii on January 1st 2009 and what better way to cut the ribbon than with a sold out stadium event in one of the UFC's most strongest and untapped regions with B.J Penn headlining?

The 50,000 seat Honolulu stadium seems like a no brainer on paper and is in a market that is similar to Montreal in that it is a guarantee you can fill the stadium with B.J Penn on top coupled with the draw of the UFC holding their first event in Hawaii.

Boxing purists long for the days of open stadium events but promoters in the United States have shown a reluctance to leave the guaranteed dollars of a casino, where profit overrides atmosphere month in and month out.

There are only certain markets where I would have confidence that a MMA show inside a stadium could draw. We learned in June of 2007 that Los Angeles was not one of those markets and anyone with any long term tracking of the California market would realize it was a pipe dream of K-1 to expect anything other than the results they received. San Jose is one of the hottest fight cities in North America and set a then record in March of 2006 for the first sanctioned card at the H.P Pavilion but have failed to do sellout business since that inaugural show despite loaded cards from the Strike Force promotion. Sacramento is another market that was very tough for the UFC to draw with their July 2007 "Stacked" card and one can remember the May 2006 Pay Per View success that was Matt Hughes Vs Royce Gracie but tend to forget the paid attendance at the Staples Center was dismal. This is a bigger testament to the WEC's drawing ability this past June at the same Arco Arena in Sacramento for Urijah Faber's successful Featherweight Title defense against Jens Pulver than outdrew the UFC 73 "Stacked" card.

Certain fights that are out there - Chuck Liddell Vs Quinton Jackson 3, Fedor Emelianenko Vs Randy Couture (if promoted by the UFC) and Georges St. Pierre Vs B.J Penn have the ability in the right market to fill a stadium and it is an avenue that the UFC needs to explore now while the market is hot.

Over the last 3-years when you look at fights such as Tim Sylvia Vs Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell Vs Tito Ortiz 2 and imagine what those paid attendances could have been if the venues were bigger? The UFC has gotten to the stage where the right fight will instantly sellout a Las Vegas arena, the next step for the promotion is to accurately gauge if a fight is big enough to graduate from just being an arena sellout and into a bigger event that can generate more outside.