UFC boss Dana White doesn’t hate Ilia Topuria’s move to 155.

It was confirmed last week that Topuria was to relinquish his featherweight throne to make a run at the lightweight title — and while White says that the Georgian-Spaniard fighter has gone about his decision in the correct way, he says that a shot at Islam Makhachev’s world championship isn’t a formality.

“He said, ‘I’ve done everything I can do here, I’m ready to move up’ and he vacated it. He said, ‘I shouldn’t be holding up anybody’s opportunities.’ I respect when guys do that,” White told reporters, including The Mac Life, following last weekend’s UFC event in Seattle, Washington.

“I think he felt he had done everything with the guys that he beat. If you look at who he beat and how he beat them, right? And I don’t think he loved making that weight anymore.”

Topuria has been flawless in his 16-fight career to date, scoring knockout wins over 145-pound royalty Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in his last two contests. And while it is clear that Topuria has the credentials to jump straight into a title fight in his new weight class (as Volkanovski did twice), White says that there are issues behind the scenes that are complicating matters.

“There’s still other possibilities,” White said. “A lot of shit going on right now, otherwise I would have [announced his next fight otherwise].”