RIO DE JANEIRO — Jose Aldo asked to be released from his UFC contract, and said he was going to retire from the sport in September, but he’s happy now even though he didn’t get what he was aiming for.

Aldo was coming off a win over Frankie Edgar back then, regaining the UFC featherweight championship. He is now set to take on interim titleholder Max Holloway at UFC 212 on Saturday night.

The Nova Uniao star told reporters at the UFC media day on Thursday that his tactics helped him get in a better position to negotiate his future with the promotion.

"We tried to shoot at one target but hit the other,” Aldo said. "There was something different in the treatment, their look, it’s different. Before, I was the champion who did everything, accepted every challenge and wouldn't complain. Not today.

"They opened a way for us to choose fights. That’s what I want. We have this fight ahead of us, and when it’s over, we’ll start choosing fights.”

Fighting in Rio de Janeiro for the fourth time, Aldo, who beat Chad Mendes and Chan Sung Jung in the same arena he’s fighting Saturday, has given indications of which type of fights he’s looking for after Holloway.

"I’ll always be motivated,” Aldo said. "I’m happy to be headlining this card. The treatment has changed, I showed what I wanted to do. After this fight, we’ll sit down with them and think the best direction to go.

"I want a superfight, that’s my biggest wish. I want to test myself in different divisions. We’ll see. One step at a time. After I win, I’ll sit with ‘Dede’ (Andre Pederneiras). After I win, I can say."