Hassan N’Dam before the official weigh in walked towards the ring to analyze his surroundings before fight night. He noticed the ring looked quite small and began complaining to people nearby. The people talking to N’Dam were unidentified, but they were constantly explaining to him it’s officially a 20’ x 20’ size ring. N’Dam and his team seemed to be in distress, but was unable to do anything about the situation. After the weigh in I confronted N’Dam to elaborate on the situation. He said, “The ring is small. It is not good for me because I’m the type of fighter who moves around. I will not have much space to really move.” Given the fact he showed signs of repugnance towards the size of the ring, it could play a factor in the fight from a mental aspect. Perhaps his training camp was undergone through a bigger sized ring, and he will have to make a last minute adjustment.
The ring size definitely favors Stevens whose game plan is to cut off the ring and close the gap. N’Dam is a fighter who utilizes his legs for defensive and offensive purposes. When a fighter who has a style similar to N’Dam is not prepared to fight in a small ring, it handicaps their strengths to a certain extent. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact this will have on N’Dam.
