FightHype.com caught up with Affliction VP Tom Atencio right after his 3rd round TKO victory over the very game Randy Hedderick at Ultimate Chaos this past Saturday night. "I'm fortunate to be in the position that I'm in right now. I probably shouldn't have been on the pay-per-view, but was only on it because of who I am, so I appreciate everyone who was on the undercard and pay-per-view because their hard work put me where I am," he admitted, acknowledging the fact that he was only on the televised portion of the card due to his name. After his war with Hedderick, Atencio was quick to point out the level of respect he has for all fighters, stating, "I have a ton of respect for these guys, especially now that I've been in there a couple of times…Randy is a tough kid. He dropped me and I have no idea how I recovered, but I did."

Atencio also took the time to address comments he made about UFC President Dana White prior to the fight. "I have a lot of respect for what Dana has done for this industry and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here, but as I've said before, these guys are the fighters, he's not, so quit acting tough and be the business person that you are. But as far as business goes, I have a lot of respect for him. The UFC is the 800-pound gorilla, but my thing is either step in the cage and stop being a critic or don't and stop being a critic."

As for his performance, Atencio admitted that he didn't remember much of the 1st round when he was rocked by Hedderick. "I don't remember! I just did was I was taught by Tracy and Rafael. I used to tell Tracy how much I hated him during training, but it paid off," he stated. Apparently, he wasn't hurt bad enough to deter him from fighting again as he revealed, "My friends are already booking me for another fight. I have no idea. I'm 42 and my body hurts (laughing)! My thing is anyone that fights is tough. Even if you have a 0-20 record, at least you did it. It's better than someone that sits on the coach and talks about what other people done wrong. If you have the guts to do it, I think you should be respected!"