In a surprising but exciting move on the UFC YT Vlog, Irish UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor just announced that he will expand on his training regime by training HEMA and both longsword and spear in particular, and aiming to join the larger and tougher HEMA tournaments like Swordfish in Sweden this very year.

McGregor is already known for using some unorthodox training methods, seeking inspiration from the animal kingdom and how animals move, and working with free-flowing rythmical movement, so perhaps it should not come as a surprise that he is adding one of the hottest “new” martial arts to his regime.

McGregor in the video says that ‘This is where I came from, yeah? I’m representing the family!’ as he brandishes his new longsword, looking very happy with it indeed, although we certainly will have to present him with some better sparring swords for HEMA. McGregor also stated that the ‘…really like fighting from the “Alber” and “Tag” stances, putting the two together into something new’.

This is of course very exciting news and sure to bring a lot of attention to HEMA internationally and we will be following the developments of this closely.