Payzutdin Aliyev suffered excruciating injuries at the Universal Fighters Open Cup this past week.

The 26-year-old Russian was fighting at the Tinkoff Arena based in St. Petersburg in a hand-to-hand grappling contest when he suffered the life-altering injuries.

Aliyev was dumped on his neck following an attempt to catch his opponent in a flying armbar.

This resulted in the Russian fighter screaming in pain after landing hard on his head.

Aliyev was then subsequently rushed to hospital, where, according to a Russian report, as per The Sun, 'he was diagnosed with a brain contusion, a closed craniocerebral trauma and a fracture of the cervical vertebrae with damage to the spinal cord.'

A follow-up CT scan image then revealed that the fighter’s arms and legs were paralysed in addition to the broken neck that was also sustained following the tragic incident.

Aliyev’s opponent had looked set to attack again following the failed arm bar attempt, however, he soon noticed that the fighter from Dagestan was seriously hurt and was clearly shook up by the distressing incident.

Following news of Aliyev’s severe injuries, The Sports Ministry in his native region of Dagestan, which is also home to UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, said: “No one in our life is safe from accidents.

“Aliyev received a severe spinal injury and now he needs financial assistance.”

A fund raising campaign has subsequently been launched to support Aliyev following his life-altering injuries in an effort to help him in the challenging years ahead.

Horrible news and just a reminder of how dangerous the MMA world truly is.