Rumours abounded last year that the UFC title-holder would appear in the show when Northern Ireland newspaper Sunday Life quoted a source as saying: "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 he would be the perfect fit for the show."

However, McGregor responded to this, telling Good Times Network: "That [Game of Thrones rumour] was everywhere and I've never even heard about it.

"I heard about it once after [a fight]... They were in front of me and they were saying, 'These [people] want you to be in Game of Thrones'. I'm banged up, my shin's in a heap, I've been kicking his (opponent) knee straight for 25 minutes, my leg's in bits, and he's trying to offer me a Game of Thrones role!

"I'm saying, 'Listen, come at me with s*** I want to hear; I'm not trying to be in show business, I'm trying to be in the fight business... Come at me with a real number to fight again.

"That was the only time I ever heard [about] Game of Thrones, and it went everywhere, like, months later! I don't know where that came from. But I've never been in contact with nobody from Game of Thrones."