We just spoke with the UFC honcho who tells us the data he's looked at shows massive interest in UFC 254 -- and he's expecting to break the 2.4 million PPV buys that Conor vs. Khabib did in 2018.

"Yeah, it's trending bigger than that right now," Dana says.

White says the data doesn't always hold up -- but right now, he's pretty confident.

For the record, 2.4 million buys at $65 a pop is $156 MILLION in PPV money alone ... so yeah, this is a big deal.

We also asked Dana about Khabib's comments to ESPN on Tuesday morning -- when the Dagestani said he's very interested in a fight with UFC legend Georges St-Pierre after he gets through Justin.

White says he's interested in exploring a possible deal -- but he's not making any promises.

"I'd be interested in talking about it. Just because that's what Khabib wants doesn't mean that fight can be made. I mean there's just so many things that have to come into play for that fight to happen."

As for Conor McGregor ... Dana tells us the contract to fight Dustin Poirier in January is NOT officially done at this point, but he's expecting it to happen soon.

"No, the deals not signed yet but in the history of dealing with Conor McGregor, Conor McGregor has never come out publicly and said 'I accept this fight' and not fought," White says ... "I expect the fight to go on."

Conor has said he wants the fight to take place at AT&T Stadium in Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones has said he's open to hosting a McGregor fight.

So, we asked Dana if there's a realistic chance that could happen.

White says the UFC has been trying to book a fight there for years but it just hasn't come to fruition -- and it definitely won't until Texas allows full capacity for fans.