Tuesday 1 March 2016 14:27, UK
Former Gloucester and Munster wing Shane Monahan is swapping rugby for Mixed Martial Arts and is training at Irish superstar Conor McGregor's gym in Dublin.
Monahan left Munster in November and is currently without a club. He still hopes to return to rugby but not expect to find a club this season, and until he does he is concentrating on MMA.
Monahan told The42: "I was on a short-term deal with Munster during the World Cup and there was a 50/50 chance of staying on but unfortunately it didn't work out.
"It was a shame because I enjoyed it there. The options I had with other clubs weren't really right for me and, a few days after I finished with Munster, my dad told me he had heard about this MMA thing called 'Wimp 2 Warrior'.
"When I looked into it, it looked brilliant. It was a chance to train in MMA and learn a new skill - and with John Kavanagh [McGregor's trainer]... it sounded like a fantastic opportunity."
Almost 200 hopefuls applied to be part of the programme, and that number has been cut to 40, including Monahan, and he hopes to have his first fight in August.
Monahan, who left Gloucester after three seasons last summer, continued: "When I went to the try-outs, I was expecting it to be a tough day and it certainly was. It was all MMA-based warm-ups, mixed in with strength and conditioning - high-intensity stuff and different exercises that I'm not used to doing.
"It's a strange one because a lot of it does actually fit in with rugby, which I know certain lads and teams have done in the past - bringing in grapplers, wrestlers and stuff like that for pre-season training. But it's very different when you're doing it this way.
"I still see myself as a rugby player but it doesn't do you any harm to take a bit of a break from it as well. Again, the mental side of professional rugby can be very tough, as well as the physical side, so it's actually nice to have a break from that."
