Ultimate Fighting Competition (UFC) has wasted no time in announcing it will host a UFC 193 pay-per-view event in Melbourne after the Andrews government lifted a cage fighting ban.

The UFC expects to host the match on November 15 at Etihad Stadium, and still hasn’t announced who will headline the event.

The turnaround is expected to bring Melbourne a huge economic boost, with the UFC predicting more than 50,000 fans packing Etihad stadium and more than $50 million in revenue to the state.

“This is a major milestone for mixed martial arts in Victoria, which will allow the sport to flourish while at the same time better protecting its competing athletes,” said Tom Wright, UFC executive vice-president and general manager, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In the last five years, the UFC has staged six events in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The sport has been allowed in Victoria previously but only if it was staged in a boxing ring. Before the turnaround, any promoter or organisation staging an event faced fines of up to $12,000 or 12 months jail.

Victoria Police and a former sport minister have slammed the turnaround, saying it glorifies violence.

“Our view simply is this normalises the brutality, this normalises the violence,” former state sport minister Damian Drum told The Age.

“I share the view that this is a very violent and brutal sport, I share the view of our former police commissioner Ken Lay, who has been a fantastic advocate for reducing violence in our society, that this is a barbaric sport and Melbourne should have no place for it.”