Reversing Victoria’s ban on cage fighting risks glamorising extreme violence, the state’s police chief says.

Labor outlawed cage fighting in 2008 and now plans to will lift the ban if elected to government in November.

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But Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said violent behaviour offences were down and scrapping the ban could hinder that progress.

“It would be disappointing if we went down the path of glamorising this extreme violence,” he said in a statement.

“I’m deeply concerned about the message it sends to the community when we accept this as a form of entertainment, and the culture that surrounds these types of activities.”

However, Labor argues allowing cage fighting will pave the way to make other events like mixed martial arts – an arena-based combat sport – safer.

“At present mixed martial arts is held, by way of competition, in a boxing ring,” Opposition police spokesman Wade Noonan he told reporters on Monday.

“Labor’s change will see a fence placed around that arena to ensure the safety of those competitors who are legally involved in that particular sport.”

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is running its own campaign to make caged MMA bouts legal in the state.

“This year alone, the UFC will hold more than 30 events around the world and close to 400 individual competitions, all held in a safe, fenced-in enclosure,” said UFC operations director for Australia Tom Wright said in a statement.

“Our first priority is the safety of our athletes and what we won’t do and never will is hold an event in a boxing ring.”

Sport Minister Damian Drum said the government was against promoting cage fighting.

“We do not want to glamorise this sort of street violence that has been stylised inside a cage,” he told reporters.