A NORTH-EAST fighter preparing to take part in Britain's first "ultimate fighting" event last night insisted the sport was safe.

Ian "The Machine" Freeman, from Sunderland, is planning to take on Frank Mir, of Las Vegas, in the heavyweight bout at London's Royal Albert Hall on Saturday.

The controversial combat sport combines martial arts with boxing, kick-boxing and wrestling. It was set up in 1993 and has been sanctioned in some US states, but its has also been criticised by politicians.

Organisers say the rules and other mechanisms, such as trained doctors and referees, gloves, mouthpieces and groin protectors, ensure fighters are not seriously injured during the three, five-minute rounds.

Lorenzo Fertitta, a former vice-chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Committee and joint head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, said moves in the sport were almost the same as those in other disciplines.

Striking with hands or feet as in boxing or kick-boxing is permitted while grappling uses the same techniques as Greco-Roman wrestling, and submissions from arm locks to leg chokes were identical to those in judo, he said.

"There's nothing that you can do that's not already legal in another sport," Mr Fertitta said.

Mr Freeman, 35, who has fought in the US, said he felt the pressure to perform on home soil and defended the sport's combination of fighting styles.

"It's the ultimate contest," he said.