For four years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has lobbied the New York State Legislature to overturn its 1997 ban on live professional mixed martial arts fighting.

But it has failed. So on Tuesday, the U.F.C. adopted a new strategy: it sued the state in Manhattan federal court, saying that the prohibition is unconstitutional. The complaint accuses the state of enacting the ban because of the violent message it believes the sport conveys.

By doing so, the U.F.C. said, the state has violated its free speech rights protected by the First Amendment. The real intent of the ban, the organization alleged, is to “squelch its expressive element.”

The lawsuit added, “Live professional M.M.A. is clearly intended and understood as public entertainment and, as such, is expressive activity protected by the First Amendment.”