Conor McGregor told us to ask the UFC who his opponent will be on Jan. 18 ... so we did. And, Dana White says the fighter they're targeting is Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.
But, there's a HUGE catch ... Dana tells TMZ Sports the deal isn't done yet -- not even close.
"We have nothing done, nothing is even close to being done. So, I hate to even talk about this stuff and say it because it might not happen ... it might happen. But, were looking at Cowboy."
White says the fight would be a lightweight bout between the #3 ranked fighter, Conor McGregor, and the #5 ranked fighter, Cowboy .