Rumorville: UFC star Conor McGregor to be on Game of Thrones?

(Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Brand new casting rumors out of Belfast suggest that mixed martial artist Conor McGregor could be the next stunt cast on Game of Thrones. According to Belfast Live, “It’s been agreed that McGregor will appear in one of the remaining two seasons of Game of Thrones.”

"He was headhunted as it were by HBO, as one of the Game of Thrones directors is a huge UFC fan. They believed that he would be a perfect fit for the show."

Considering the sort of antics that happen on Game of Thrones, “headhunted” might not be the best choice of words. (Technically, no one’s died of being headhunted on GoT yet, but we really shouldn’t be going around giving them ideas.)

Exactly what McGregor would be doing on the show is unclear, although his experience fighting with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who plays the Mountain, could suggest one avenue.

It’s not 100% far fetched that McGregor could conceivably appear on the show—this isn’t quite the obvious game of telephone that brought us those hilariously bizarre rumors of casting 90-year-old Angela Lansbury. After all, the show has done stunt casting of minor celebrities that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are into before, like Coldplay’s Will Champion, who was one of the musicians playing “The Rains of Castamere” in the episode of the same name. Then Sigur Rós played Joffrey’s wedding the next year.

Furthermore, Benioff and Weiss have appeared on the UFC Unfiltered podcast, so we know they’re fans. But then again, we also heard a couple of years ago that Prince Harry had been offered a role on the show, so let’s not believe it until we see it.