Tarec Saffiedine, a mixed martial artist who recently fought at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) card in Halifax, Nova Scotia, may have been underpaid due to a specific regulation.

Nova Scotia has a law that requires fighting organizations to have a minimum split to fighters in the main event of the card. The regulation comes from a boxing act.

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While it is a boxing one, it also applies to mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts by virtue of the definition of boxing in the regulations.

The definition of boxing, according to section 2 of the Boxing Authority Act is: "professional boxing contests or exhibitions, including such entertainment involving the use of fists as is determined to be boxing by the Authority, but does not include amateur boxing unless the context so requires."

The one in question is called Section 58 of Nova Scotia's Boxing Regulations. It states that the minimum amount the fighters in the main card can receive is 10 percent of the receipts.

While the UFC did pull in just shy of a million at the gate - US $926,000 - Nova Scotia defines the receipts as, "all money collected in respect of a boxing match including all television and film royalties.

This means that the fighters could have been paid much more.

A reporter from MMA news site, bloodyelbow.com, contacted the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority and asked whether the regulation was followed. They did not answer as there are privacy laws that do not allow them to divulge fighter pay.

However, Saffiedine's pay for his last fight was only US $19,500 to show and another of the same amount if he won. If he was only paid by that amount, he was severly underpaid.

The main card in Halifax was already a legal mess, as the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority has failed to enforce several regulations. For Saffiedine's sake, hopefully Section 58 was not overlooked as well. 

TagsRory McDonald, Tarec Saffiedine, UFC, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Boxing Regulations, Section 58