P.E.I. MMA fighter gets call from UFC

A P.E.I. mixed-martial arts fighter has signed a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Jason Saggo is a lightweight fighter and trains at Wulfrun MMA near Cornwall. He's been in 10 professional MMA fights, with nine wins and one loss.

Recently he was signed by Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest MMA promotion company in the world. Saggo said being signed onto the UFC is a huge boost for his career.

"It's the big leagues. It's kind of like the NBA in basketball. It's just the highest level that you could compete at," he said.

"I was just in shock and I couldn't believe that my dreams came true when that call came in."

Saggo's contract is for four fights with the UFC. He hopes it will be extended, but first he has to win the fights.

Saggo's first bout takes place in Vancouver on June 14.

Prize fights still illegal on P.E.I.

While Saggo is travelling internationally to compete, the P.E.I. government is still working to comply with new federal regulations for prize fighting.

Last year the federal government passed a bill that defined which combative sports' prize fights were allowed and which were not. Under the law, only sports with that are in the Olympics, have a regulated commission, or have special permission from the province can host prize fights.

As the regulations stand, sports such as kickboxing and MMA can't host a prize fight here.

The provincial government says it's continuing its work on setting up a commission for those combative sports, including regulations for amateur sports and legislation for pro-am sports and events.

The province said it will be a several months before the commission is ready.