INGLEWOOD, Calif – Dana White has nothing but praise for Daniel Cormier. However, he thinks today’s decision to publicly announce he was relinquishing the UFC light heavyweight title was somewhat unnecessary.

Cormier (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) announced today that he would be giving up the 205-pound title in advance of Saturday’s UFC 232 headliner between Jon Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) and Alexander Gustafsson (18-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC). The belt would’ve become vacant once the fight began, anyway, but “DC” opted to get ahead of it because of how the transition will look in the history books.

UFC President White takes umbrage with that stance, though, because he never felt Cormier was going to be painted in a negative light. Cormier also holds the UFC heavyweight strap, and when the promotion booked Jones vs. Gustafsson for UFC 232, it decided he would only proceed with one championship.

“He’s being a little dramatic right now,” White told MMAjunkie following UFC 232 ceremonial weigh-ins. “He’s being a little dramatic because of his hatred for Jon Jones. He would’ve never been stripped. He’s vacating. … I expect Cormier to be all fired up and on a rampage. He hates this guy.”

White said he somewhat understands why Cormier did what he did. His rivalry with Jones runs deep, and any little maneuver adds fuel to the fire. That was further proven with Jones’ reaction to the news.

“I heard that he ended up relinquishing his belt, and I think it’s a good look,” Jones said on the UFC 232 weigh-ins show on FS1. “I know most people know he was never the champion. Hat’s off to him for being the heavyweight champion of the world, but I’ve been the light heavyweight champion since 2011. That’s just facts. The belt was given to him. He has not beat me. So he can cancel all doubts by challenging me and really being a legit champ-champ.”

"This fight is going to a lot different than the first fight, I feel it in my bones." –@JonnyBones pic.twitter.com/dh39250tBJ — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 29, 2018

Ultimately White said the UFC needed to make a decision on the future of the 205-pound weight class, and it went forward with the move at UFC 232. It doesn’t change the positive light Cormier should be reflected in though, White said, and he said the situation should not impact his legacy.

“At the end of the day he wasn’t being stripped of the title, he was vacating the title,” White said. “It would never go down in history that he was stripped. ‘I’m going to get stripped and I didn’t do anything wrong.’ I told ‘DC’ a long time ago: ‘If you’re my champion for the rest of my career, I’m good with that.’ He’s one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever worked with, such a good guy.”

For more on UFC 232, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.