Mixed martial arts promoters looking to stage fights in Ontario should start getting their bids in order.

The Ontario government announced today it will begin accepting applications Jan. 1, noting just one major MMA event could attract up to 30,000 fans and generate up to $6 million in economic activity.

The province had a change of heart in August and announced it would allow mixed martial arts, starting in 2011.

Prior to that Premier Dalton McGuinty had always dismissed the idea of allowing the cage matches that characterize MMA, saying it just wasn't a priority for Ontario families.

The economic potential of MMA events apparently isn't lost on the government, which is running a deficit of almost $20 billion.

Ontario's move in August came after successful UFC shows in Montreal and Vancouver, which both posted record sellouts for the MMA juggernaut.

UFC 124, scheduled for Saturday in Montreal, is expected to draw 23,000 fans -- a North American MMA record -- to the Bell Centre and set a world record MMA gate.

The UFC, the sport's biggest promoter, has long targeted Ontario but was frustrated by the government's reluctance to jump on board.

The UFC was so confident that Ontario would eventually open its doors to the sport that it announced in May it was opening a Canadian office in Toronto with former CFL commissioner Tom Wright at the helm.

At the time, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta said Canada was its second biggest market outside the United States, accounting for some 17 per cent of its overall business.

The Edmonton-based Maximum Fighting Championship says it also plans to hold shows in Ontario.

Ontario will adopt the same rules for MMA events that are widely used across North America, and the sport will be regulated by the Ontario Athletic Commission, which already oversees boxing.

In the '90s, before the UFC's current ownership was involved, the sport literally had almost no rules and found itself almost a pirate enterprise reduced to taking place in backwaters.

The sport combines a variety of fighting styles, from boxing to wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Fights are three five-minute rounds, with the exception of championship bouts which last five rounds.

The UFC holds its fights in an octagon-shaped cage. Other promoters use a cage or ring.