Justin Gaethje thinks Conor McGregor returning to the UFC as a welterweight is good for the lightweight division.

Gaethje, a top 155-pound contender, said he is boggled by McGregor's decision to fight Donald Cerrone at 170 pounds, but he doesn't expect it to have a negative impact on his own trajectory.

"I don't know what to make of it," Gaethje told "The Luke Thomas Show" on Monday. "For me, I think it's good. It takes him out of the picture. It kind of clears the path to what needs to happen."

McGregor's Octagon return was confirmed last week; after more than a year off, he is set to face "Cowboy" in the UFC 246 main event on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.

Though his next fight is in a different division, it's not out of the question that McGregor may call out the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Tony Ferguson should he beat Cerrone. Gaethje, however, believes the former two-division champion - who hasn't won a fight since November 2016 - would need to win at lightweight before deserving another title shot.

"It's as easy as that," Gaethje said. "It can be me, it can be (Dustin) Poirier - it doesn't matter which one, but it has to happen."

Gaethje added: "I don't know how in his mind he could say, 'I'm gonna fight at 170 and fight for the world title next.' ... I'm sure he knows he's gonna put pressure on Dana and the UFC to give him the title fight if he beats Cowboy at 170. Or maybe he'll fight somebody else at 170. I'm not sure what he's doing."

Gaethje has called out McGregor in the past - as recently as when McGregor announced his intention to return to the UFC in October. But Gaethje said that was only because McGregor was the most direct path to a lightweight title shot. That's no longer the case, he explained, now that McGregor is fighting at welterweight.

"I'm under contract," Gaethje said. "I'm not gonna fight him for any more money. He's not a champion. I'm not fighting for a world title. I was gonna fight him for whatever money was in my contract for my next fight. No matter if I fight him, no matter if I fight Poirier, no matter if I fight (Dan) Hooker, it'd be the same amount of money."

Gaethje said he is now focused on fighting the winner of the lightweight title fight between champ Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, which takes place in April.