Warrior versus warrior

Frank “The Crank” Camacho, right, will face Brok “Chata Tuska” Weaver in UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sept. 12. (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

The stage is set for the duel between two warriors, as Frank “The Crank” Camacho takes on Brok “Chata Tuska” Weaver in next month’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Marianas warrior confirmed his return to the octagon cage on Sept. 12, just less than three months after losing his first fight of the season. Camacho’s showdown with Weaver, a Native American from Alabama and whose nickname means “Choctaw warrior,” is one of the 10 supporting bouts to the Thiago Santos-Glover Teixeira main event fight.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to represent the Marianas at the world stage again. I am looking at flying out this week to California to prepare and train with Team Oyama,” Camacho said.

In facing Weaver, Camacho aims to regain his winning ways after dropping his last two bouts in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He lost to Beneil Dariush (rear-naked choke) in the first round to cap his four-fight deal with UFC last Oct. 26, 2019 on a flat note. The 31-year-old athlete then secured another four-fight agreement with the MMA promotion company only to be defeated anew—this time by UFC newcomer and last-minute replacement Justin Jaynes (TKO in Round 1) in their June 20 collision in UFC Fight Night 173.

Overall, Camacho’s record fell to 22-9 and he holds a 2-5 mark in UFC, with his pair of victories posted against Germany’s Nick Hein (TKO) in UFC Fight Night 153 last June 1, 2019 and Australia’s Damien Brown in UFC Fight Night 121 last Nov. 18, 2017. The Marianas pride debuted in the UFC stage in June 2017 in UFC Fight Night 111 in Singapore and though he lost to China’s Jingliang Li (decision), Camacho impressed fight fans and officials, as he earned a Fight of the Night tag. The Team Oyama standout went on to gain Fight of the Night honors in his next two bouts despite winning only two of his last six assignments.

While Camacho has become a regular in UFC, his opponent is a relative newcomer, having seen action in the Dana White-led group twice. Weaver, after joining Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 3, debuted in UFC Fight Night 167 last Feb. 15 this year and was handed the victory (via disqualification) after receiving an illegal kick from Rodrigo Vargas in the first round of their lightweight bout.

Nearly three months after his free win, Weaver returned to the cage, but bowed to Roosevelt Roberts in UFC on ESPN 9 via submission (rear-naked chose) in the second round of their May 20 tiff. With the loss, Weaver, who is famous for sporting traditional MOWA (an Indian tribe in Mobile and Washington Counties, Alabama) face paint and headwear at his weigh-ins and media appearances, dropped to a 15-5 record. He won eight straight bouts before Roberts snapped his streak.