UFC star Dan Hooker has urged the sport to crack down on last minute weight division changes, saying the tactic is "tantamount to cheating".

His comments come after Brazilian Paulo Costa turned up to his middleweight fight with Marvin Vettori at last weekend's UFC Vegas 41 too heavy.

Costa successfully negotiated to make the fight a light heavyweight contest instead, but lost the five-round fight in a unanimous decision anyway.

UFC legend Nick Diaz also managed to have the weight limit of his recent rematch with Robbie Lawler changed following a last-minute request.

Hooker will take on Islam Makhachev in a lightweight fight at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning as part of the main card ahead of the headline light heavyweight clash between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

When asked if the UFC was setting a bad precedent by allowing fighters to change weight classes on the eve of bouts, Hooker called for said it had to be clamped down immediately.

"I feel like it's a bad thing for the longevity of the sport, definitely," Hooker told news.com.au.

"It's bad look. It's unprofessional. They'll put a stop to it at some stage. You just can't let it continue. I know full well they're not going to continue to let it happen.

"This will kind of be the catalyst. Nick Diaz is a whole different story. That's a guy that's given a couple decades to the sport.

"He kind of earned the right to do it whereas Paulo Costa I feel like was a bit of a wakeup call that he was able to hold the fans, hold the UFC at ransom by just showing up too heavy.