{"id":330450,"date":"2020-09-25T06:06:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T20:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=330450"},"modified":"2020-09-25T06:06:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T20:06:21","slug":"the-crank-beats-covid-eyes-nov-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/the-crank-beats-covid-eyes-nov-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Crank\u2019 beats COVID, eyes Nov. fight"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this file photo, Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho, left, ducks and hits Australia\u2019s Damien Brown during their bout in UFC Fight Night 121 in Sydney in 2017. Camacho won via split decision and and will be looking for victory No. 3 in UFC when he returns to the octagon cage in November. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One down, one to go for Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho.<\/p>\n

The Marianas warrior won his battle against COVID-19 after his recent test yielded negative results, giving Camacho clearance to return to training with his fellow MMA fighters at Team Oyama in Irvine, California.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough, but I am thankful I KO\u2019ed COVID-19. I got tested last night (Wednesday morning on Saipan) and results came out negative, so I had my first training today (yesterday). After my 10-day isolation, I had no symptoms, but I want to make sure. The last thing I want is to spread the virus to my teammates if I still have it and I am just asymptomatic,\u201d said Camacho.<\/p>\n

With his battle against COVID-19 over, Camacho will now focus on getting ready for his fight\u2014possibly in November this year.<\/p>\n

Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho, extreme right, enjoys a light moment with his Team Oyama teammates before resuming his training session yesterday in California. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNothing is set in stone yet, but we\u2019re looking at the November timeline and to fight in Las Vegas again. I definitely need to restart my training and it will take two to three weeks to get back into that fighting shape,\u201d the 31-year-old said.<\/p>\n

Before COVID-19 hit him, Camacho was supposed to duel Brok \u201cChata Tuska\u201d Weaver in the UFC Fight Night 177 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas last Sept. 12. The UFC Fight Night 177 was one of the two events the Ultimate Fighting Championship has scheduled for this month in Las Vegas with the other one, the UFC 253: Adesanya vs Costa set for Sept. 27. The next five UFC events will then move to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople from my managing agency (Iridium Sports Agency) are on their way to Abu Dhabi and I\u2019m still waiting word from them. Personally, I don\u2019t want to go to Abu Dhabi and would prefer fighting in Las Vegas, probably second or first week of November. We\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n

UFC has lined up four competitions for November, with the first two slated for Nov. 7 and 14 an the last scheduled for Nov. 21 and 28.<\/p>\n

Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho is COVID-free and will get ready for his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship stage in November. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for his opponent, Camacho said he wouldn\u2019t mind fighting Weaver, but it\u2019s up to the UFC. He added that he has yet to decide whether to return to Guam or stay in California while waiting for his fight\u2014the last in his second contract with UFC.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Camacho thanked all the people who supported him in his bout with COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support I got was just phenomenal. I received a lot of encouraging messages from Saipan, Tinian, Rota, Guam, and those in the mainland who have roots from the Marianas. I just felt so blessed to have family, friends, coaches, and teammates behind me. Thank you so much,\u201d the Team Oyama standout said.<\/p>\n

After surviving COVID-19, Camacho reiterated the need to stay vigilant and responsible at this time of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwn up to our health, don\u2019t stress out to things we can\u2019t control. Stay active, hydrated, take our vitamins, and have enough rest. We must also be responsible, not only for ourselves, but for others, especially those who are more vulnerable to the virus. Wear our mask, wash our hands, and watch our distance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One down, one to go for Frank \u201cThe Crank\u201d Camacho. The Marianas warrior won his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":330453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330450","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\/330450","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=330450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}