‘Crank’ loses, but gets Fight of the Night

Frank “The Crank” Camacho’s brawl against Drew Dober earned the Fight of the Night in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on FOX 27: Jacare vs Brunson 2, giving the 28-year-old Marianas pride some consolation after losing in their three-round welterweight bout.

Both warriors did not disappoint the sellout crowd at the Spectrum Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, as they gave it their all, trading punches and strikes a number of times to earn the Fight of the Night award.

After the epic duel, all three judges scored the fight for the Omaha-born warrior with Roy Silbert seeing it at 30-27, and Andrew Hopper and Derek Clearly giving the same scores, 29-28. In the stats provided by MMA junkie website, Dober of the Colorado-based Elevation Fight Team threw strikes in volume with 354 and landed 123 compared to Camacho’s 299 and 78.

Camacho, in a video message posted on Facebook for his fans especially in the Marianas, said the loss only inspired him to work harder in preparation for the next fight so he could earn the win.

“We didn’t get the W but we’re going to get back at it. We’re going to continue to work hard and work for the W the next fight,” Camacho said.

He then thanked Dober for pushing him to give his best in their three-round non-title bout—the third of a four-bout semi-main event card. “Drew Dober was tough as hell. I definitely had a good time. We went out there and gave it our all. We left everything in the cage.”

Camacho also thanked the people who supported him. “I thank all my friends, family, wife, son, [Team Crank], to all my teammates, training partners, and everyone in the Marianas. To all the new fans that got to see us leave everything in the cage against Drew Dober, thank you and tune in. This is not the end. We’re going to get back out there and just keep training hard,” he said.

Camacho, in his first pro fight in the mainland under the UFC stable, is now 1-2 in the world-renowned MMA promotional outfit and 21-6 overall. He suffered his second decision loss, while his other defeats where by knockout, three times, and one by submission.

This was also Camacho’s third straight Fight of the Night award, earning him and Dober $50,000 (each) bonus. His previous matches against Adrian Brown in UFC Fight Night 121, which he won by split decision, and a unanimous loss to Jingliang Li in UFC Fight Night 111 were also named as Fight of the Night.

Camacho joins the ranks of reigning UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, current heavyweight titlist Stipe Miocic, Jungle Fight Brazil inaugural winner Erick Silva, No. 9 welterweight Donald Cerrone, top lightweight Tony Ferguson, Australian Mark Hunt, and Brazilians Lyoto Machida, and Charles Oliveria as three-time Fight of the Night awardees.

Nate Diaz of Stockton, California holds the record of most Fight of the Night awards with eight followed by the seven each of New Jersey’s Frankie Edgar, Joe Lauzon of Massachusetts, and New Mexico-native Diego Sanchez.

Camacho, in his fight against Dober according to mmajunkie.com, has successfully took down his opponent three times. He attempted to end the match by submission as seen from the live stats that he commanded the ground game with a combined time of 2:19.

Dober, however, was successful with his all around game and pressured Camacho the entire match. He was more active inside the cage and even rocked his opponent with combinations.

The 29-year-old, in an interview by mmajunkie.com, said that he has nothing but respect for Camacho. “I feel that a true martial artist doesn’t need animosity to perform well. I have tremendous respect for anyone that steps inside the cage. Especially Camacho, who just stood there and performed to the best of his abilities.”

“Mad respect to both of us, we’re going to [always] perform our best, we’re going to go for the win, the KO, and the performance. Regardless of the hatred, we don’t need that. It was just a thank you, huge respect, Fight of the Night. It was just honoring one another.”

Mixing it up inside the octagon was Dober’s game plan against Camacho.

“I’m changing my levels. Trying to wrestle, trying to strike, trying to do my jiu-jitsu, I’m playing the entire game. This is chess, not checkers. So, me taking my shots, taking jabs, going for take downs, comeback to my striking, I’m doing a complete martial arts versus boxing or Muay Thai,” Dober said.

“Motion, motion was the game plan. Changing up, this guy is going to stand and trade with me. I’m very eager to stand and trade as well. But, I’m always looking to improve overall. With my wrestling, movement, angles. All that stuff, so the game plan was to be the better fighter,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza of Brazil again defeated Derek Brunson of the United States by way of technical knockout in the main event to improve his record to 25-5. Their first meeting on Aug. 18, 2012 also ended in KO in favor of the Brazilian.