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‘Crank’ back to drawing board
Frank “The Crank” Camacho will only get better after his tough loss to Drew Dober in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on FOX 27: Jacare vs Brunson 2 last weekend at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I need to improve everywhere,” Camacho told Saipan Tribune in an exclusive email interview after Team Crank watched and assessed the fight to see where he had the advantage against Dober and the areas they need to work on more.
The 28-year-old suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Dober with one judge scoring the bout, 30-27, for the Elevation Fight Team Warrior, who improved his record to 19-8 with four wins by knockout and nine by submission. The two other judges gave the fight to Dober in similar scores, 29-28.
After the loss, Camacho knew he needs to improve his techniques in other combat sports
“What we really spoke about is getting a lot more wrestling and jiu-jitsu mat time in. Dober being a striker, I didn’t anticipate to grapple as much as we did in the fight. We have to be ready for anything and everything,” the Marianas pride said.
He added that his team—composed of Cuki Alvarez, Melchor Manibusan, and Steve Oshiro—pointed out lessons that they will further discuss when he gets back to training once they arrive in Guam.
“Great lessons learned with a great team. All I know how to do is work hard. I’m going to get back in the gym as soon as possible and work to get back into the UFC octagon again and get a win for the Marianas. Hard work is the only way,” said Camacho.
Being aggressive and keeping the pressure on his opponents are the other areas that Team Crank will be working on when they resume training.
Dober, during their bout that was named Fight of the Night, was more active inside and even rocked Camacho with kicks and punches.
“One take away is learning how to dig deep and continue to push forward o matter how hurt I was. His body kicks and body shots slowed me down in the second and third [rounds]. I had to suck it all up and find the strength deep down to continue to push,” Camacho said.
