Mixed martial arts officially becomes legal in New York State on Thursday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo will sign the bill legalizing the sport in the Empire State in a morning ceremony at Madison Square Garden in New York City, ending a ban passed by the state legislature in 1997.
The state Assembly approved the bill legalizing the sport on March 22 by an overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 113-25. The Assembly's move followed a 48-14 tally on March 22 in the State Senate.
Cuomo's signature will mark the culmination of a near-decade-long effort in the state capital of Albany to repeal the ban, passed in a wave of media hysteria during the UFC's first wave of popularity in the sport's primitive days.