Frank Camacho


Franklin Beldad Camacho is a Chamorro mixed martial artist. He was a 2010 Blue Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World champion and a 2006 Micronesian Games wrestling gold medalist. He is currently competing in Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Background

Camacho was born on Hagåtña, Guam to Marcia and Francisco Muña Camacho. He was raised on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands where he is still based. He started playing golf at a young age in hopes of competing professionally one day. However, he moved his attention to mixed martial arts, to shed some weight and get in shape, after watching UFC and Pride Fighting Championships events on television. He started to train in MMA when he was fifteen, under the supervision of Tetsuji Kato and Cuki Alvarez of Trench Tech Purebred at Saipan. He competed in his first professional fight one year later.

Mixed martial arts career

Prior to Ultimate Fighting Championship

Camancho fought most of his fights in the Pacific Rim island especially on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands and Mangilao, Guam, under the promotions such as Pacific X-Treme Combat, Rites of Passage and Trench Warz, and he amassed a record of 20–4 prior to joining the UFC.

The Ultimate Fighter 16

Camacho joined The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson, the sixteenth main installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship -produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter, in 2012. He faced Neil Magny in the first round and lost the fight via unanimous decision and was eliminated from the competition.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Four years after his appearance in TUF 16, Camacho was called up from UFC to replaced injured Jonathan Meunier, making his debut on June 17, 2017 at, to face Li Jingliang. Camacho lost the fight via unanimous decision. The win earned him his first UFC's Fight of the Night bonus award.
Camacho faced Damien Brown on November 19, 2017, in a lightweight bout at. At the weigh-ins, Camacho weighed in at 160 pounds, four pounds over the lightweight upper limit of 156 pounds. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Camacho forfeited 30% of his purse to Brown. He won the fight via split decision. This win earned him the second UFC's Fight of the Night bonus. After the fight, Camacho took to Twitter asking UFC President Dana White to give his US$50 thousands bonus to Brown as he believed he was not eligible for the bonus since he missed weight. Camacho became 1 of 5 fighters in UFC history to earn back to back Fight of the Night awards to start off their UFC career.
Camacho faced Drew Dober on January 27, 2018 at. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him his third Fight of the Night bonus in as many fights, and 1 of 2 to start their UFC careers with three consecutive Fight of the Night awards.
Camacho faced Geoff Neal on September 8, 2018 at UFC 228. He lost the fight via knockout.
Camacho faced Nick Hein in a lightweight bout on June 1, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 153. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
Camacho to faced Beneil Dariush on October 26, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 20. He lost the fight via submission in round one.
Camacho was tabbed as a shore notice replacement to face Alan Patrick on April 25, 2020. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date. Camacho was then scheduled to face Matt Frevola on June 20, 2020 at. However, on June 18, it was revealed that Frevola was removed from the bout after one of his cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. Instead, Camacho faced promotional newcomer Justin Jaynes at the event. At the weigh-ins on June 19, Camacho missed weight, weighing in at 158 pounds, two pounds over the non-title lightweight limit of 156 pounds. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Camacho was fined 20% of his purse. Camacho was defeated via first round technical knockout.

Personal life

Camacho's moniker “The Crank” was given to him by a fight announcer when he introduced Camacho where he rhymed Frank's first name with “Crank”. He was stuck with the nickname since then.
Camacho is married to Sarah Filush Camacho. They have one child, a son named Franklin Muña Camacho Jr.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed Martial Arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship