ONE Championship: Younes Rabah, Luke Lessei make weight at the death for Fight Night 19 in dramatic finale

Luke Lessei and Younes Rabah both made weight at the death to ensure a dramatic finale to Thursday night's official ONE Championship weigh-ins and hydration tests in Bangkok.

Until the final seconds of the three-hour testing window, the tall, rangy duo had only registered unofficial checks, with both overweight and neither submitting a hydration sample at the host Rama Gardens Hotel.

They were facing the prospect of having to negotiate catchweight bouts with their respective ONE Fight Night 19 opponents, until they both showed up with under three minutes to spare for their first official attempts.

American Lessei, who made a stunning debut in a defeat by "'Smokin'" Jo Nattawut at Lumpinee Stadium in December, passed hydration, but then had to towel his sweaty body down, as he called for the curtain.

But after a dramatic pause, senior director of competition Ric Auty announced 'The Chef' was bang on 155 pounds, making his featherweight fight against Eddie Abasolo official for Saturday morning at Lumpinee Stadium.

"Atta' boy, Chef," Lessei's father bellowed from behind the cameras, as his son whooped and cheered.

There was no time to pause, with Rabah immediately stepping up to the scale.

The buzzer signalling the end of the window had already long sounded, but Auty announced the Algerian would be allowed to weigh in as he had provided his sample in time.

The 26-year-old Rabah, who fights out of Venum Training Camp in Phuket, Thailand, also needed to towel himself down, and the aid of the curtain, after passing hydration. But in the end he was well under at 143.25 pounds.

Rabah burst into tears on the scale, pointing to the sky, as Lessei – who had stayed behind to watch – bellowed from the side of the room.

"Me and him had the hardest weight cuts, but we are the hardest motherf****** out here," Lessei said. "You’re about to se the two craziest knockouts, two big ones."

Lessei then went to embrace an emotional Rabah, after he had dressed himself again.

"Same as the last time, bro,. We were the last two. Let's go, bro."

Rabah will now rematch Saemapetch Fairtex at bantamweight, after missing weight for their first bout – also on December's ONE Fight Night 17 card. The contest itself ended in controversial fashion, when the newcomer appeared to land a knee to the head when the Thai was already downed.

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The rest of the ONE Fight Night 19 weigh-ins

All 16 other fighters on Saturday's card had made weight with less than an hour gone on Thursday, meaning all nine contracted fights will go ahead as planned.

Well, if you discount the two late notice changes, with Polish 21-year-old Martyna Kierczynska stepping in to face Nat 'Wondergirl' Jaroonsak in a strawweight Muay Thai bout, after passport issues ruled Dayane Cardoso out of a mixed rules fight against the Thai.

Cardoso's compatriot Valmir Da Silva was also scratched from the card earlier this week for the same reason, and lightweight Abraao Amorim stepped up a division to take on Japan's Hiroyuki Tetsuka.

Most important of all, perhaps, Saturday's main event – the bantamweight Muay Thai title fight between Jonathan Haggerty and Felipe Lobo – remained intact.

"And new," Brazil's Lobo shouted from the scales after making weight, with the champion – who was first to the scales – and his posse hanging back to see the challenger weigh in.

"And still," Britain's Haggerty fired back.

"And Malykhin," the watching heavyweight and light heavyweight MMA champion Anatoly Malykhin – here to corner his Tiger Muay Thai teammate Lobo – quipped in trademark fashion, drawing a ripple of laughter from the room.