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‘The Crank’ aims to regain winning ways in ROP 20
Frank “The Crank” Camacho, left, keeps his hands up as he waits for the next move of Korean Han Seul Kim during the first round of their bout in PXC 54 in Guam last month. (Pacific Xtreme Combat)
Toughened by his defeat in Pacific Xtreme Combat last month, Trench Tech’s Frank “The Crank’ Camacho is out to prove he is capable of recovering from a setback in such a short time as he competes in tomorrow’s Rites of Passage 20: Conquer at The Warehouse.
Camacho, who absorbed a TKO loss to Korean Han Seul Kim at PXC 54 in Guam last July 8, will be facing the latter’s compatriot Hyun Joo Kim in one of the two main events in ROP 19.
“It’s devastating for an athlete to suffer a loss in any sport. I was healthy after the loss so I thought to myself, I could either cry about the whole situation for a week, two weeks, a month, a year, or I could get back to working towards my goals, take the loss as a slight road bump on my goals and get back on a win streak. That’s when I gave Cuki a call to see if he could get me on the Rites of Passage card. There’s nothing better than fighting for the Saipan crowd,” said Camacho when asked why he decided to return to the octagon cage quickly after the defeat to Han Seul Kim.
Though he dropped his previous bout to end his streak, the 27-year-old MMA fighter said he will approach this weekend’s match the same way he viewed his previous fights.
“I approach every fight with the same mentality. I always prepare properly, train hard and fight hard on fight night. It’s how ‘The Crank’ came to be. Every fight I learn something new about myself. And what I learned from my last fight is to bring back the old ‘Crank’ and mesh with the smarter and more experienced one. Relentlessness and aggressiveness, combined with experience and technique, that’s what I am excited for on Friday at The Warehouse,” said Camacho.
The Trench Tech bet is undoubtedly the more experience fighter in the co-main event bout with his 18-4 record compared to Kim’s 1-2 slate. Kim lost his first two bouts before earning a unanimous win over Sung Won Son in Top FC National League 2 in Korea two years ago. Camacho, on the other hand, before losing in PXC 54, got three straight wins, including a TKO victory over Japan’s Yasuaki Miura in ROP 18 last year.
Meanwhile, the other main event in tomorrow’s ROP 20 will feature a title bout between Won Jun Jang of Korean Top Team and Ricky Camp of Guam Spike 22 in the bantamweight divisions. Three kickboxing matches and nine more MMA fights will also take place in this weekend’s event.
