First it was YouTube “personalities.” Now strongmen, one of whom is a part-time actor. Well, at least they’re athletes.
Hafthor Bjornsson, who played “The Mountain” in HBO’s Game of Thrones, apparently is destined to fight the man whose dead lift record he just broke in his native Iceland. The 6-foot-9, 425-pound behemoth lifted 1104.5 pounds (501 kg), breaking the mark of Englishman Eddie Hall.
After the momentous lift, he was asked what comes next.
“Something new and big,” Bjornsson said. “Core Sports [Nutrition] just offered me a seven-figure contract, the biggest contract of my life. I’ve signed it already. Hall has been running his mouth for some weeks, and I know he got the same deal, same contract.
“So Eddie, I just knocked out your record, and now I’m ready to knock you out in the ring. … Time to put your fists where your big mouth is and sign the Core Sports contract. I’m ready.”
.@ThorBjornsson_ HAS DONE IT!
He just deadlifted 1,104 pounds, setting a new world record 😮💪 #TheOcho pic.twitter.com/YQzO5ULZ3S
— ESPN (@espn) May 2, 2020
Bjornsson, a 31-year-old former basketball player who has won a number of strongman competitions, demonstrated in a friendly sparring session with none other than Conor McGregor that he can move well for such a big man. (See video below.)
He won’t be as cordial to Hall, with whom he appears to have bad blood. Hall, also a strongman champion, quickly accepted Bjornsson’s challenge. No time or place was discussed.
“1,000 per cent I’m going to sign those papers,” Hall said in a Facebook video. “And you know why I’m going to sign those papers. … It’s not the money, it’s not the dead lift feud we’ve got going on, nothing to do with that. It’s because you called me a cheat at World’s Strongest Man 2017. I can’t put that to bed, I can’t forget it. People may forget it, but you’ve never apologized.
“You think you should’ve won that year, regardless of the trophies or not, and you let people know that.”
Hall is a mere 6-foot-3, 410 pounds, making their combined weight 835 pounds. The fans probably won’t see an artful display of the sweet science if they actually meet in the ring but it will be hard to look away.