Lightweight title to put ‘The Crank’ closer to UFC goal

Winning the Pacific Xtreme Combat lightweight championship belt would move Frank “The Crank” Camacho closer to his goal of earning a chance to fight in an Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

Frank “The Crank” Camacho, right, waits for the formal announcement of referee Alverick Alvarez, center, after beating Yasuaki Miura in Rites of Passage 18: Warpath last July 3 at the Royal Taga Hall of Saipan World Resort. (Jon Perez)

Camacho (17-3 with 14 knockouts) will be facing Guam Muay Thai’s Tyrone “Bones” Jones (5-4) in PXC set on Dec. 4 at the University of Guam Fieldhouse with the vacant PXC 155-lb title on the line.

The Guam-born, but Saipan-raised fighter said he is training harder for his upcoming five-round battle against Jones.

“I’m preparing to the best of my ability for this fight because having a belt around my waist puts me under a better light for the UFC, which is my career goal. I just need to stay focused and never forget the goal,” Camacho said in an email to the Saipan Tribune.

“[Just] continue to push forward and represent the Marianas at the highest level of fighting. Even as small as we are as an island, we have the fighting spirit. I have it and I want to show it to the entire world where we come from,” he added.

This will be Camacho’s fifth mixed martial arts fight in the last 12 months and second after his technical knockout win over Yasuaki Miura in Rites of Passage 18: Warpath last July 3.

“I haven’t been this active fighting in years. I’m getting better at fine-tuning the way I train. I always train hard, but for the longevity of my career and well being I am understanding smart training,” Camacho said.

PXC bantamweight champion Kyle Aguon, Ricky Camp, Roque Martinez, Jeff Mesa, Robert Alvarez, and Seay Camacho are serving as his sparring partners at Spike 22 and Purebred BJJ and they have been helping him get in shape since training camp started in the middle of September.

Camacho said having back-to-back fights early this year kept him in shape in preparation for five, five-minute rounds against Jones.

“Training camp is going really well. I’ve been staying in decent shape with back-to-back fights, so that won’t be an issue at all.”

Camacho’s training camp this time is different from his previous fights.

“Preparation is a little different with this training camp—more conditioning, more rounds, and a little more of everything really. The sword has been forged. Now, the next few weeks I need to sharpen the blade,” Camacho ended.