{"id":329616,"date":"2020-09-11T06:06:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=329616"},"modified":"2020-09-11T06:06:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:06:18","slug":"the-crank-battles-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/the-crank-battles-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Crank\u2019 battles COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho has been pulled out from the fight card in the UFC Fight Night 177 after testing positive for COVID-19. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The warrior in MMA fighter Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho will be tested in the coming weeks, as he faces a different battle this time\u2014against the COVID-19 virus.<\/p>\n

Camacho confirmed he tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Las Vegas last Wednesday (Saipan time) for his Sept. 12 bout against Brok \u201cChata Tuska\u201d Weaver in the UFC Fight Night 177. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was pulled out from the fight. I tested positive but no real heavy symptoms. Little sore throat, and little runny nose. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s because I\u2019m always hydrating with water, taking my vitamins, eating healthy food, getting good rest, and most importantly having a positive outlook on everything,\u201d said Camacho.<\/p>\n

The Marianas fighter, who tested negative when he left Guam late last month and a week before in Irvine, California while in a training camp with Team Oyama, got tested twice at the hotel where Ultimate Fighting Championship has its fighters billeted and received the bad news yesterday morning, leaving UFC officials with no choice but to call off Camacho\u2019s duel against Weaver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bummer. At first I thought it was the Vegas heat and dry plus the fires in California that had me having a little sore throat, but it\u2019s COVID. I am doing everything to combat this,\u201d said Camacho, who thanked people back in Guam and on Saipan for sending their thoughts and prayers and encouraged them to be vigilant as well as we all battle the virus.<\/p>\n

Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho trains at Team Oyama in Irvine, California late last month for his Sept. 12 bout against Brok \u201cChata Tuska\u201d Weaver in the UFC Fight Night 177. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI urge everyone back home to have their bodies in the best possible condition to fight this virus,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old athlete is scheduled to return to California where he will be isolated as he works on his recovery. The rest of Team Oyama, cornermen and other fighters, will remain in Las Vegas, as they all tested negative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UFC said after 10 days and I get negative tests, they\u2019ll rebook me ASAP. Now, I have an opportunity to get two wins. One versus COVID and the other against a new UFC opponent,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n

The match against Weaver would have been Camacho\u2019s last in his second contract with UFC and he is looking at bouncing back from an early loss to Justin Jaynes in the UFC Fight Night 173, also in Las Vegas, last June. Jaynes was a last-minute replacement for Camacho\u2019s original foe, Matt Frevola, who, incidentally, was pulled out from fight card after his cornerman tested positive for COVID-19. Frevola will return to the octagon cage in the same event where Camacho was supposed to compete, as the former will face Roosevelt Roberts, who defeated Weaver in their May bout this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to be in this situation, especially I am away from home and have been working so hard to prepare for this fight, but I have to keep that positive mindset and consider this as another curveball thrown at me,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have another fight that just came up. It\u2019s against COVID. Round 1, let\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The warrior in MMA fighter Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho will be tested in the coming…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":329617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}