Thirty-six-year-old St-Pierre relinquished the middleweight on Thursday night, 33 days after prising it from Michael Bisping’s clutches in the main event of UFC 217.

The former two-time UFC welterweight champion, who is currently suffering from a bout of Colitis, did so as he didn’t want to hold up the progression of the division.

“My fight at UFC 217 was one of the greatest nights of my life but I now need to take some time to focus on my health,” St-Pierre said in a statement. 

“Out of respect to the athletes and the sport, I don’t want to hold up the division. 

“I will be giving up my belt and once I’m healthy I look forward to working with the UFC to determine what’s next in my career.”

St-Pierre’s decision to vacate the title led to interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker being crowned the division’s undisputed ruler.

White touched on St-Pierre’s vacation of the belt shortly after UFC Fight 123 and revealed he wasn’t expecting the Canadian to take part in a middleweight title unification fight against Whittaker.

“I thought I would be (p***d), but I’m not. I expected it,” White told the media after the event.

“Listen, I had him sign a contract that said he would defend against Whittaker for a reason. Because I knew he wouldn’t.”

“At the end of the day, there’s a reason I put that stuff in the contract for him to sign,” he added.

“Am I shocked? I don’t think anybody’s shocked. He came out, and he hand-picked Bisping and went away again. So, whatever. It is what it is.

“He doesn’t want to fight anybody at welterweight,” White said. “That’s why he fought Bisping. He didn’t want to fight Woodley. He didn’t want to fight ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. 

“He didn’t want to fight any of those guys. He only wanted to fight Michael Bisping. He did, and now he’s off again.”