Game of Thrones star Hafþór Björnsson injures MMA fighter Gunnar Nelson in a friendly sparring match

Game of Thrones’ Hafthor Björnsson (The Mountain) and Eddie Hall have been long-time rivals now, ever since they faced each other in the World’s Strongest Man championship. Their upcoming fight has been dubbed ‘The Heaviest Boxing Match in History’. Hall had to delay the fight, which was supposed to take place in September last year, after pulling up a bicep injury during training. Bjornsson wasn’t really happy about that, and he is sending a strong message with his training.

Björnsson had agreed to film a friendly grappling match with Gunnar Nelson, his fellow Icelander and MMA fighter. The goal was to “have a little wrestle, videotape it, and just have fun,” Nelson said.

“It was fun,” he said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “I enjoyed it.”

That is, until he tried to get that sub on his back. Somewhere in the second round, Nelson said, Björnsson collapsed on top of him, and he heard “a nasty pop.” Seconds later, he could feel the upper right side of his ribs swelling.

“Something in me was like, ‘I’m not going to say anything now,’” Nelson said. He thought he could survive until the end of the round, his pride mostly intact. Then Björnsson landed on him again, and it got even harder to breathe. Rib injuries affect everything when you’re grappling. He’d just recovered from one suffered before his most recent fight, a unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns in 2019.

“I’m just thinking, I have to wait for him to show his neck, and we can get this over with,” Nelson said. “Cause, it’s too late to stop now and say I hurt myself. It was a really fun thing, but it was probably stupid.”

Let’s hope Nelson recovers from the injury soon. Talk to us in the comments below!