Two-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo Kayla Harrison now fights for the Professional Fighters League as a lightweight. However, women’s lightweight is a little like men’s super heavyweight – there are not a lot of fighters in the division. Harrison is 2-0 now, with one sub and one TKO.

During a recent appearance on Luke Thomas’s The MMA Hour, Harrison detailed contradictory forces in her career. She wants to become the best women’s fighter in the world. which means someday dropping to 145 and fighting Cris Cyborg. But she’s against dropping.

First of all, I don’t believe in cutting weight, said Harrison, as transcribed by Alexander K. Lee for MMA Fighting. I think it’s terrible for your body, I think if you’re gonna win, you’re gonna win at whatever weight you compete at and I think it’s sending a bad message to young girls and young kids. I don’t want anyone, especially my niece or someone to think that to be thinner is to be better. I just don’t believe in that. You’re big, you’re strong, you’re powerful, that’s the message that I want to send.

But I do realize that if I want to be considered the best in the world, I have to beat the best. And that person is at 145 pounds.

In Judo athletes make weight the day before, but some number are chosen the next day for a second weigh in. If their weight has increased more than 5%, then they are withdrawn from the event. Harrison walks around at 160, so by competition time, she would have to be no less than 152.

I think the judo idea is a really good idea, the random next day weight check, said Harrison. Maybe not five percent, seven percent or something like that. You have these guys cutting 40, 50, whatever, pounds, I can’t even fathom cutting 50 pounds and then believing that I can step into a cage at my very best 24 hours later.

Never mind physically how I would feel, but you have to think about — you’re not swinging a baseball bat. People are punching you in the head. You’re dehydrated, you’re also dehydrating your brain. What’s the number one thing that keeps your brain safe? It’s the water. To me, I’m surprised that commissions allow it as of now. I’ve never had MRIs or blood tests and all that to do a judo tournament. They do all these tests as commissions to make sure you’re healthy and you can fight, but they’re going to let you cut 50 pounds? That doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

However, PFL does not have a women’s lightweight division. The UFC doesn’t even have a women’s featherweight division. In both cases the promotions are making fights for a single individual. So Harrison acknowledges that a drop could be in her future.

I think a lot of people have doubts about 155 because it’s such a big weight class, she said. It’s very underdeveloped in the women’s MMA community, so if I have to go down to get some fights then I have to go down.