TMZ Sports spoke with the Irish Dragon about The Notorious' return ... and he says it's good news -- most likely because he wants to beat the dude's face in -- but also because he's "holding up the whole division right now."

There have been names like Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier and Frankie Edgar being thrown around right now ... but Felder says he should be in that conversation too.

"I feel like a lot of guys out there aren’t mentioning my name right now, and if they are they’re ranked way below me," Felder tells TMZ Sports.

"I’ve always done nothing but bring violence and bring excitement to the cage. He’s a striker, I’m a striker, you know what’s gonna happen if a guy like me and him fought."

We asked Felder (the 6th ranked UFC lightweight) what his message to Conor would be ... and the dude made it clear he wants to find out who the best Irish fighter is!!

"If you want to fight someone that’s got that Irish blood in them too, who’s an American, why don’t you fight an Irish-American. Let’s get that Irish-American vs the real Irishman and see who’s tougher."

There's more ... "You can talk about me, you can call me a plastic patty cause I’m the Irish Dragon, you can do all that kind of crap. It’s not really gonna bother me."

"I’m a kid from South Philly who grew up in a neighborhood just as tough as wherever the hell you grew up in Dublin and I’m just gonna show the fans what a real martial artist looks like."