‘Crank’ set for UFC Fight Night 153

Frank “The Crank” Camacho, left, signs his promotional poster for his lightweight bout against Germany’s Nick “Sergeant” Hein in UFC Fight Night 153 in Sweden last Tuesday. (Contributed Photo)

Frank “The Crank” Camacho is now in Stockholm, Sweden and is set for his bout lightweight bout against Germany’s Nick “Sergeant” Hein in UFC Fight Night 153.

Camacho just completed his training camp in California with renowned MMA coach Colin Oyama and arrived in Sweden last Tuesday, giving him a few days to put the final touches on his preparations for the June 1 duel (June 2 on Saipan).

“I am feeling amazing. It’s another great training camp in the books with Team Oyama. No injuries, high spirits, and sharp game plan… I’m every excited,” said Camacho, who will have Oyama at his corner when he have his first fight of the season.

Against Hein, the Marianas warrior is hoping to improve his 21-7 record and get back on track after losing his last two UFC fights.

“Fight week is like clockwork. Get the weight off and then it’s go time. I am very much ready. The goal this year is to stay ready for opportunities that may present themselves,” the 30-year-old said.

The duel against Hein is sort of a déjà vu for Camacho, who had his first UFC fight as a replacement when he challenged Jingliang Li’s foe in the UFC Fight Night 111 in Singapore two years ago. Hein’s original foe was Italy’s Luigi Vendramin, but he got injured, thus UFC tapped Camacho to take the latter’s place.

Since getting the short notice, the Guam-born and Saipan-raised athlete has been studying his opponent.

“I’ve been watching my opponent for a while, so nothing really new coming into this next bout,” said Camacho, taking notes of Hein’s reputation as a good ground fighter, having won his first four fights via submission.

Camacho has tapped out opponents three times out of his 28 bouts and pundits favored him in a standup encounter. Sherdog.com, an MMA website, had Camacho landing 295 strikes in his first UFC bouts. Hein (14-4) connected only 50 on Drew Dober, the same guy that Camacho faced and hit 106 strikes, and the German had a total of just 182 strikes in his last three fights.

Whether this weekend’s bout will be a fistfight or a battle on the ground, tbe Marianas pride vowed for a better showing this time after his back-to-back losses.

“You’ll see a more calculated, methodical, and focused Frank Camacho. When I put it all together, it gets dangerous,” he said.