‘The Crank’ looking for UFC return in February

Frank “The Crank” Camacho, left, throws warm-up jabs before his bout against Geoff Neal in the UFC 228: Woodley vs Till at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, last September. (Contributed Photo)

Frank “The Crank” Camacho is eyeing an early return to Ultimate Fighting Championships next year.

“No set dates on fights. Looking at maybe February of next year in the UFC. Not sure of any opponents or location of the fight, I am just looking forward to getting back in there,” said Camacho, who joined Sons of Saipan and Marianas Young Professionals in the distribution of relief goods to victims of Super Typhoon Yutu early this week.

Camacho completed his four-fight deal with the American mixed martial arts promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada last September, earning three Fight of the Nights honors and recording one victory.

His lone triumph was against Australia’s Damien Brown during the UFC Fight Night 121: Werdum vs Tybura at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia last Nov. 18, 2017. Camacho was handed the split decision win in their three-round bout in the lightweight class.

The match against Brown was the Marianas pride’s second straight Fight of the Night honors in UFC with his first one versus China’s Jingliang Li. The Chinese defeated Camacho via unanimous decision during the UFC Fight Night 111: Holm vs Correla held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore last June 17.

For his third consecutive Fight of the Night recognition, the 29-year-old was pitted against Nebraska native Drew Dober in the UFC on Fox 27: Jacare vs Brunson 2 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 30-year-old Dober outclassed Camacho for a unanimous decision win in their Jan. 27, 2018 bout.

After his second loss, Camacho took a break for nearly eight months before returning to the eight sides to cap off his deal with UFC. This time, he traveled to Dallas, Texas to challenge slugger Geoff Neal. The home bet went on to floor Camacho with a head kick for a knockout victory at the 1:23 mark of the second round of their duel in UFC 228: Woodley vs Till at the American Airlines Center.

The Marianas warriors considered his KO loss to Neal as the worst loss in his MMA career to date and vowed to return stronger and wiser after absorbing his seventh loss in 28 fights.

Meanwhile, Camacho continued to get inspired with how people affected by the typhoon are recovering and how everyone is doing their share in providing help to Saipan and Tinian residents.

“We get hit hard and bloodied up at times. We get back up and and keep fighting the good fight The strength of everyone on Saipan and Tinian truly shows during these times of hardship. It’s inspiring.”