Game of Thrones fans know Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Gregor Clegane, aka the Mountain, the towering behemoth who popped Oberyn Martell’s eyes out of his skull during Tyrion Lannister’s trial by combat in King’s Landing.
But outside the show, Björnsson is a professional strongman with several world titles to his name. More recently, he’s been boxing in exhibition matches, and has transformed his body in the process:
I mean, he’s still huge — guy is 6’9″ — but it’s a very different-looking kind of huge.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson will fight Eddie Hall on March 19
Björnsson’s next boxing match has been a long time coming: it’s against fellow pro strongman Eddie Hall, with whom he’s had a professional rivalry for a while. “The wait is finally over,” Björnsson tweeted. “I will be stepping into the ring on March 19th in Dubai to face Eddie. It’s been a long journey, almost two whole years from the day I announced this fight. It hasn’t always been easy but I’ve loved every minute of it. Tickets & viewing info coming soon.”
Actually, “professional rivalry” may be selling it a bit short. Hall, at least, sounds like he’s generally angry with Björnsson, which apparently started after Björnsson accused Hall of cheating at a strongman competition in 2017. “I want to hurt him,” Hall told Muscle and Health. “This is a serious fight. We actually genuinely hate each other.
I just want to bang this guy out, bang him out again, and then just get him out of my headspace because I’ve just spent too much time fixated on wanting to hurt this man and I just need to move on. He wronged me in 2017, he’s put a black cloud over me for a number of years. I just want to put that to bed and move on with my life.
It’s hard to tell if this is genuine or put on to drum up interest in the match. Like, I didn’t think people actually talked like professional wrestlers in their day-to-day lives. I guess it’ll come to a head one way or another on March 19.
Game of Thrones alum Hannah Waddingham in a Super Bowl commercial
In much lighter news, anyone watching the Super Bowl the other day may have recognized Game of Thrones Hannah Waddingham (Septa Unella, aka the Shame Nun) in a commercial for shopping app Rakuten, where she plays a high-stakes poker player. Watch it below:
Since Thrones, Waddingham has earned an Emmy for her work on Ted Lasso! And a Super Bowl commercial isn’t a bad feather to have in her cap, either.
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h/t The Sun
