Smith -- who's DESTROYED his last two opponents, Shogun Rua and Rashad Evans -- fights Volkan Oezdemir Saturday on FS1, but tells us after that fight he's got his sights on a much, much bigger face off, and that's with Jones.

"Once I go through Volkan and do what I think I'm gonna do to him. I'm gonna stomp my foot in the ground and stake my claim."

His claim -- he feels -- is to be the #1 light heavyweight in the world ... and in order to do that he's gotta go through Jones, something he says only he can do.

"I'm not afraid of Jon Jones. And, there's probably not that many people in the division that can say that," Smith tells us ... "I'm 100% not afraid of Jon Jones. And, I really believe deep down in my soul that I can beat him."

Of course, Jones has some work to do first too ... he's got a fight against badass Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 in December -- his first fight since July 2017.

This could get awesome.