‘Crank’ falls to Neal

Frank “The Crank” Camacho leans back to elude a punch from Geoff Neal during the first round of their bout in the UFC 228: Woodley vs Till yesterday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (MMA Junkie Photo)

Frank ‘The Crank’ Camacho bowed to a quicker, taller, and stronger Geoff Neal in their bout in the UFC 228: Woodley vs Till yesterday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Neal unleashed a vicious left kick that hit Camacho’s chin and dropped the Marianas warrior to the canvas at the 1:23 mark of the second round. The third man on the ring quickly stepped in and pulled the plug on Camacho, giving Neal his 10th win in 12 matches and sixth victory via knockout.

The triumph was also Neal’s fourth in a row, while Camacho ended his four-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a 1-4 record. The 29-year-old dropped to an overall record of 21-7 and absorbed his second straight loss. Despite another defeat, Camacho remained positive and vowed to fight back.

“My motto has always been, come back with your shield or on it. This time I came out with the loss. Lots of lessons learned here. I cannot thank Geoff Neal enough for making me a better martial artist after this. Thank you. We will be back,” Camacho posted in his official Facebook account.

Up against an opponent known for his impressive stand-up fighting skills, Camacho tried to keep the fight at a slow face early on. However, Neal came out attacking, using his reach and height advantage to connect body and headshots on Camacho. The home crowd bet continued to pepper Camacho with different shots, alternately using his hands and legs to slow down his foe. Camacho seemed gassed out, as he tried to elude Neal’s shots, but remained up on his feet at the end of the first round. Then in the second round, Camacho attempted to use his grapping skills to hold down Neal. However, the slick fighter got out of trouble quickly and countered with some more punches to Camacho’s face. Neal remained aggressive and after connecting a few jabs went for the killer kick to bring down Camacho, who sustained a busted lip and cuts on his right eyebrow after taking too much punishment from his favored opponent.

Neal, after the big win, was quoted as saying at the MMA junkie website, that he prepared well against Camacho, who won Fight of the Night honors in his first there bouts at UFC.

“I knew he was going to be tough. I was mentally ready for a three-round battle, but knew it could also end quickly. I saw that every time I threw a punch, he dipped that way, and it set me up to deliver the kick. I didn’t think the kick would knock him out, but I got him clean.” Neal said.