‘The Crank’ suffers TKO in Round 1 in UFC Vegas 54

In this screen grab from Frank “The Crank” Camacho’s Facebook account, the Team Oyama fighter is seen here congratulating Manuel “El Loco” Torres after their UFC Vegas 54 fight last weekend. (FACEBOOK)

It wasn’t a triumphant return to the eight-sides by Marianas pride Frank “The Crank” Camacho in UFC Vegas 54 last weekend.

This after Mexican Manuel “El Loco” Torres beat him via TKO with 1:35 left in Round 1 of their lightweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both fighters exchanged heavy blows in the first minutes of the match with Camacho occasionally trying to take down Torres with not much success. 

Both fighters would continue to exchange a flurry of haymakers until Torres connected on his that sent Camacho down the canvas and seemingly hurt that the referee immediately stepped in and stopped the fight.

Camacho was understandably disappointed after the loss to the up-and-coming Torres, who earned a UFC contract after fighting on Dana White’s Contender Series last summer.

“Bummed! We did our best in preparation with the fight camp months out. Weight cut was amazing and game planning and training was on point. It was a tough night on the job. Torres came out and implemented his game and took me out of mine. He was the better fighter,” he said in a social media message to Saipan Tribune.

The Guam-born and Saipan-raised Camacho, however, said life goes on and he’s just happy doing what he loves as a professional career.

“I’m healthy with no injuries, [have] beautiful family, amazing friends, paradise island home. Life’s great!”

He said he’d like to thank everyone who supported coming into his fight against Torres.

“I want to thank my wife, family, team, friends, and all the Marianas for the love and support over the years! Everyone freaking rocks!”

One of his cornermen, Trench Tech owner Cuki Alvarez, whose sobriquet was “The Cockroach” during his MMA career, said Camacho took the loss like a champ and Torres has a great future in UFC.

“Frank is in good spirits as always and remains upbeat despite the loss. His opponent Manuel ‘El Loco’ Torres was a freaking absolute terror and stud! The kid has a bright future in the UFC for sure, no doubt and is actually dubbed as ‘The Next Big Thing.’”

Alvarez said that losing is also part of every sport and he expects his good friend, Camacho, to bounce right back.

“I mean, we do take these losses hard of course because we are so passionate about fighting, but we are clear-minded and content as well because this is the game we love to play! We win big and we lose big sometimes, but we remain happy because we always try our best and that’s all we can do.”

The win against the come-backing Camacho raised Torres’ win-loss record to 13-2 with 12 of those wins coming in the first round. Camacho, meanwhile, dropped to 22-9 after his career was sidelined by an automobile accident last year. His fight against Torres actually was his first in nearly three years.

Torres was slightly heavier than Camacho entering the match at 155 ½ lbs with the latter at 155 lbs.