{"id":330128,"date":"2020-09-21T06:06:37","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T20:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=330128"},"modified":"2020-09-21T06:06:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T20:06:37","slug":"the-crank-pursues-fighting-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/the-crank-pursues-fighting-form\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Crank\u2019 pursues fighting form"},"content":{"rendered":"
Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho takes a breather from his training camp with Team Oyama in California last month. Camacho is waiting for his return to the octagon cage. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marianas warrior Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho has completed his 10-day quarantine and will now focus on getting into fighting form before committing to any bout under the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion.<\/p>\n

Camacho, who tested positive for COVID-19 a few days before his Sept. 12 showdown against Brok \u201cChata Tuska\u201d Weaver, finished the isolation requirement yesterday, and met with the UFC medical team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey checked me today (Sunday morning Saipan time). I haven\u2019t been showing symptoms for over 24 hours since I completed the 10-day quarantine so I got cleared,\u201d said Camacho, who still have to undergo a series of tests before he gets back to training and plans for his next move.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will talk to my manager this week to see where they think they could fit me into a fight card. I want at least two to three weeks to recuperate and get back into fighting shape before I commit to anything,\u201d added Camacho, who returned to California after his bout against Weaver in Las Vegas, Nevada was canceled.<\/p>\n

Weaver lost to Camacho\u2019s replacement, Jalin \u201cThe Tarantula\u201d Turner, with the latter earning a submission win (rear-naked choke) in the second round of their duel in the UFC Fight Night 177. Before forcing Weaver to tap out, Turner pummeled the Alabama fighter with heavy punches on the face, including a strong right late in the first round that landed the former to the canvas.<\/p>\n

Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho, left, in this file photo, uses his knee to hit Germany\u2019s Nick Hein during their bout in the UFC Fight Night 153 in Sweden last year. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After seeing Weaver, who claimed in pre-fight interviews how he has improved a lot since training under American Top Team, struggled against Turner, MMA pundits believed it would have been Camacho out there celebrating the much-needed victory.<\/p>\n

The Team Oyama standout, on the other hand, downplayed the experts\u2019 observation, saying that anything can happen in a fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like how I was \u201csupposed to win\u201d against Justin Jaynes,\u201d said Camacho. Jaynes filled in for Camacho\u2019s original foe, Matt Frevola, who was pulled out from the UFC Fight Night 173 after his cornerman tested positive for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I was so excited to fight Brok. I would have exposed a lot of holes in his game, LOL,\u201d added the 31-year-old, who still went through some workout while in quarantine to fight off the virus.<\/p>\n

With Camacho waiting to be officially cleared for returning to the octagon cage, there have been discussions on social media about the fight card he should be in. One suggests the UFC Fight Night 254 that will be held in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 25 and top-billed by the Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje collision with the UFC lightweight championship at stake. Four more UFC events are slated in Abu Dhabi (Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, 11, and 18), while the seven remaining competitions are scheduled from Oct. 31 to Dec. 12 with venues yet to be determined due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Camacho\u2019s next bout will be crucial, as it is the last in his second contract with UFC. He is determined to finish the deal on a strong note and bounce back from back-to-back losses. Camacho holds a 22-9 record and owns a 2-5 mark in the UFC with his last win recorded more than a year ago against Germany\u2019s Nick Hein (TKO\/punches) in UFC Fight Night 153 in Sweden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marianas warrior Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho has completed his 10-day quarantine and will now focus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":330138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330128","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\/330128","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=330128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}