NEW YORK -- Promoters call it Ultimate or Extreme Fighting, a ``no-holds-barred'' mix of wrestling and martial arts. Critics see it as barroom brawls and human cockfights.

All are banned in 114 pages of new rules from the New York State Athletic Commission that threaten Friday's Ultimate Fighting Championship in Niagara Falls. It would be the first championship since New York became the first state to regulate such fights.

``Chokes are a crucial part of the tactics,'' says Mark ``The Hammer'' Coleman, a former Olympic wrestler and one of Friday's competitors. ``It won't be a real full-contact martial arts competition if they force us to wear gloves like boxers.''