Massachusetts has opened the cage door for mixed martial arts fighting.

A bill that Gov. Deval Patrick signed Monday regulates the sport and clears the way for the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event in the state.

The regulations are the culmination of a years-long effort by the Las Vegas-based UFC to come to Massachusetts, which became the 42nd U.S. state to sanction the sport. New Jersey was the first, in 2000.

Dana White, the company’s president since 2001, spent his formative years in South Boston and once ran a boxing gym there.

“Since the day we took over this thing, I’ve wanted to do an event in Boston,” he said. “This is so personal and so exciting for for me.

The UFC plans to stage its first Boston event at the TD Garden in July or August.

“People travel from all the over the world to UFC events,” White said. “I’m going to put on a UFC event in Boston so good that people are going to come from everywhere for this thing.”

Mixed martial arts fights have been going on in the state for a decade without regulation. Promoters policed themselves and the rules weren’t uniform.

Still, Massachusetts has produced several prominent pro fighters, including lightweight title challenger Kenny Florian, who fights Dec. 12 on pay-per-view cable TV.

The new regulations open up several new revenue streams for state government.