A UFC fighter had to be helped to the scales only to miss weight by 7.5 pounds ahead of his Saturday fight

• Damir Ismagulov spectacularly failed to make weight Friday for his UFC 267 match Saturday.
• Ismagulov had to be helped to the scales and was still 7.5 pounds over the contracted limit.

ABU DHABI - Damir Ismagulov missed weight by an extraordinary margin at Friday's weigh-in ahead of his UFC 267 lightweight match against Magomed Mustafaev.

The first fighter on the scales, Ismagulov was in a bad way and had to be helped onto the stage by a member of his coaching team.

Ismagulov struggled to even stand up straight before he stripped to his shorts and registered a weight of 163.5-pounds - 7.5 pounds more than the acceptable margin for his Saturday fight.

He looked eager to get off the scales so he could rehydrate but was made to get back on so he could pose for the cameras.

Though Mustafaev weighed in comfortably at the uppermost limit of 156 pounds, the match was later canceled because of Ismagulov's inability to make lightweight.

The frail way in which Ismagulov entered the weigh-in room, which Insider attended at the five-star Hilton hotel on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, further demonstrates how dangerous a practice weight-cutting can be.

One fighter said she 'almost died'

Fast-rising women's fighter Norma Dumont detailed earlier this year the trauma she endured trying to make weight.

She said she cried multiple times and "almost died" trying to cut the weight for her previous MMA matches.

Weight-cutting is a normal practise in combat sports, but can come at a cost.

For a fighter to compete at a lower weight class where they may gain an advantage, they lose up to 15-pounds or more - mostly water weight - on the week of a fight.

After the weigh-in, they drink rehydration fluids and pack the water weight back on, entering the ring or cage 15-pounds heavier than they were the day before.