For years, Ultimate Fighting has battled against the image that it is some sort of barbaric, steel-caged death match.
But after a slew of rule changes, it’s now a complex sport that has turned its stars into household names, backers say.
“You combine boxing, wrestling and a ton of martial arts,” said Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight winner Matt “The Terror” Serra. “You have to be a real athlete.
“Sure, the first Ultimate Fighting leagues were a totally different game – it was a freak show. It’s nothing like that at all anymore,” he said.
The sport’s popularity has made some fighters celebrities.
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell has become a star on both television and the silver screen, appearing on HBO’s “Entourage” and in the movie “Cradle 2 the Grave.”
Fighter Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz is another, riding his celebrity to a much-publicized relationship with porn star Jenna Jameson.
Serra, a Long Island native, argues that New York legislators should legalize it here.
“I think they should do their homework and really study up on this,” he said. lukas.alpert@nypost.com