The Ultimate Fighting Championship will make its long-awaited debut in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada at UFC 131 on April 30, 2011. The date for the historic event, which will take place at the 69,000-seat Rogers Centre, was officially announced by the promotion earlier today.

Live attendance records for MMA events in North America are expected to be broken when the UFC makes its first trip to the “MMA mecca” of Toronto. In addition, a UFC Fan Expo is also planned for the event and will take place on April 29th and 30th at the Direct Energy Centre in the city.

No fights have been announced as of yet for the debut event in Ontario, but the province already boasts a loyal mixed martial arts fanbase. Top fighters, such as UFC lightweight contender Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout, have lived and trained in Ontario for many years, but none have been able to compete in sanctioned MMA events within their own province. Next year will change all of that as the Ultimate Fighting Championship spearheads the movement to have MMA approved throughout North America.

UFC President Dana White, who has frequently commented that Canada is among the UFC’s most coveted markets, believes that the UFC 131 event will shatter current records for live MMA attendance in North America. While he has previously stated that he prefers to keep crowds near or below the 20,000 mark, the Rogers Centre is capable of holding up to 69,000 patrons in total. Depending on the seating configuration used, the event may feature 30,000 or more fans in attendance.

Tickets will go on sale for UFC 131 in January. If past events in Canada are any indication, UFC 131 could sell out within minutes. To date, the UFC has held multiple events in Montreal including this Saturday’s UFC 124 card, and brought UFC 115 to Vancouver, British Columbia earlier this year.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)