Dana White has responded to the claim there will be no more double champions in the UFC.
His comments come after Ilia Topuria vacated the featherweight title to move up to lightweight.
Former champion Alexander Volkanovski will now face Diego Lopes for the vacant belt at UFC 314 in Miami on April 12.
Lopes claimed after the fight was announced that Topuria had been forced to vacate his title if he wanted to test himself at 155lbs.
The Brazilian suggested that the UFC would be preventing fighters from holding two titles simultaneously moving forward.
He told ESPN: “They were very clear to us that they said that they are no longer giving [the] chance to jump from one weight class to another.
“If you want to move up, you have to vacate your title. That’s what UFC has said to all champions who are planning to move up a weight class.
“They will no longer have the status of double champion simultaneously.”
However, White has now clarified the situation after revealing that it was Topuria’s decision to vacate the 145lbs strap.
The UFC president told reporters at the UFC Seattle post-fight press conference: “No, he [Topuria] did that. 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’…
“Listen if there’s a guy that thinks he can do it, and wants to defend both belts and has accomplished all these great things, I would have no problem with it.”
Removing simultaneous double champions would have prevented fighters from replicating Conor McGregor.
The Irishman became the first to do so in the UFC after adding the lightweight belt to his featherweight title in 2016.
Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Henry Cejudo have since achieved the feat but there is no current double champion in the promotion.
Volkanovski had two attempts to become the fifth in 2023 but was beaten twice by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Topuria is now expected to challenge the Russian in his fifth title defence.
The Georgian had secured his featherweight strap by knocking out Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February last year.
He followed that victory up by stopping Max Holloway at UFC 308 in October in his first and final title defence.