Thor Bjornsson has issued strict instructions to his team around who can be near his meals, due to fears his foot will be tampered with ahead of his clash with Eddie Hall..
The former World's Strongest Man has been meticulous with his training ahead of his highly-anticipated fight with Hall, but believes the Brit could do something to his food. The pair both won the competition during their careers in lifting, but have switched to the boxing ring to settle a long-standing rivalry.
To do that, they've dedicated the last two years to losing weight and learning to fight, which will come to a head on Saturday in Dubai. They were engaged in an altercation recently at a gym in the region, where they almost came to blows but were held apart, leading to the pair spitting at one another. And Bjornsson is concerned that Hall will continue to play mind games ahead of the fight.
"Everything I need is prepared by my dad," Bjornsson can be seen saying in footage from a video blog uploaded yesterday ahead of Saturday's fight. "I'm going to make sure, no matter what, that I want no-one near my food or drink.
"I don't trust Eddie or his team, no-one is allowed to go in our tent except our team, I've told my dad that he's the only one to have the meals, I just don't trust Eddie - I'm 100 per cent [staying on my food plan] because that's good for my stomach and I feel good on it.
"I don't want to change anything and then not feel good on the day, or eat the same food and lose energy."
Bjornsson is the far more accomplished boxer of the two, having fought Devon Larratt last September after two exhibition bouts against professionals Steven Ward and Simon Vallily. But with both men expected to still weigh in at super-heavyweight numbers, the margins are going to be fine and any advantage could be crucial.
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The Icelandic giant, who starred on the TV series Game of Thrones, believes that the incident between the pair that took place just days out from the fight was orchestrated by Hall. He has refused to upload his footage of the event out of respect for the Dubai gym where it took place.
But he has said that it has all the marks of a Hall stunt, saying in a statement: "I was getting ready to train when I received a message letting me know that Eddie was five minutes away. I had no idea that this was happening, it was an obvious setup that Eddie was in on.
"Things got pretty heated, insults were thrown and it ended with Eddie being dragged out of the building, severely injuring someone involved, whilst trying to spit on me. I did spit back, not my finest moment but the adrenaline was cranked and I was shocked that he would do something so disgusting.
"Regardless, I managed to keep quite calm, all things considered, as I didn't want to throw two years of hard work out the window. I'm looking forward to stepping into the ring with Eddie on Saturday so we can settle this once and for all, without it turning into a disgusting street fight which is clearly what Eddie wanted after his clear lack of discipline in yesterday's display."
Mirror Fighting has reached out to Eddie Hall's team for comment.
