German heavyweight Andreas ‘Big Daddy’ Kraniotakes (12-4) is set to step in as a replacement for Pedro Rizzo next month as part of ProElite’s second event against former UFC champ Tim Sylvia.
Kraniotakes will make his North American debut at the Illinois event against an opponent who has fought at super heavyweight for his last seven bouts.
In a recent interview with Tatame.com, ‘Big Daddy’ talked to them about taking the fight on short notice and the size differences between the two.
You’ll replace Rizzo against Sylvia on short notice. How are you gonna prepare for this fight?
I was already in San Diego preparing for a fight. Originally I should have fought on November 26th. So what I had to do is pick up my training a little bit and try to peak earlier. There is really good training in my home gym Kampfsportgym but coming to San Diego and training with some of the top guys in the world is always bringing my game to a different level. I’m pretty sure they can get me into good shape until the fight.It’s your sixth fight in 2011, the eight in the last 14 months. Do you like to fight a lot of times in a year, or prefer to take 3-4 months of training for a bout like this against Tim?
Well, I would have loved to have more than 20 days to prepare for this fight. Sylvia is a very experienced guy and I will have to be at my best to beat him. Normally I like to fight as often as I can. I’m a fighter and that’s what fighters do, right?You’re a huge heavyweight too. Do you think the size won’t be a big factor in this bout?
My opponent will be bigger than me, but he won’t be able to toss me around like a toy. I fought bigger and heavier guys before. I will approach this fight as an interesting task to solve. In the end it is the skill set I’m fighting, not the body.