“I told my wife I still wake up and I still love this,” he said. “I wake up and I want to do this. At 32, I didn’t know that stretching and warming up actually helps you get better and stronger. (Laughs) I’m making all these leaps and bounds and I feel like I’ve been doing it for so long, but I still love it. I still love the grind, I still love pushing, I still love learning.”
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And in this sport, a two-fight losing streak can quickly turn into a two-fight winning streak, and if Camacho does turn the corner and start making noise again in a stacked lightweight division, well, that two-year exit strategy might change.
“I’m saying two years, but maybe down the line it may turn out to where I’m able to move my family out here, and all those little sacrifices and little sufferings of the fight game that are kind of irking me are solved,” he said. “Then let’s say I get three fights and I get three wins with no scuffs. Oooh, okay what’s next? I guess we’ll see. But just for my mind, of course I have MMA goals, but I still do understand what my body has to go through. And I have three kids, a wife, and I want to have longevity, not just in the sport, but in life. When I first started, when I was a hungry 18-20 year old, I’d say, I wonder what it feels like when you’re gonna go. There’s no way I’m gonna say quit in this game. I’m unstoppable. But then as the years progress, I got to see guys that were fighting a little past their time or being worn out and fighting for the wrong reasons. Being honest with myself and having that open communication with my support system is gonna be the key. But the fact that I’m waking up every day and loving this and being so excited to talk about it, and feeling that this is what makes me me, I just feel so alive. Even after a s**tty run, two years off, two losses, not getting out of the first round, I’m like, no man, I still got it. It’s still in me.”
Welcome back, Frank.
