"It blew up" - Conor McGregor opens up on punch incident that sent Miami Heat mascot to hospital

Conor McGregor partook in a comedy segment while in attendance for Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, USA. The basketball game, which transpired earlier this month, witnessed the Miami Heat team take on the Denver Nuggets.

Meanwhile, McGregor's segment witnessed him lightheartedly confronting the Miami Heat mascot, Burnie, and knocking the mascot out with his famed left-hand punch and a follow-up ground strike. Promoting his TIDL Sport pain relief spray, 'The Notorious' then playacted as though he were using his spray to help the mascot.

It was later revealed that the man who donned the Burnie costume had to be hospitalized after being punched by Conor McGregor. In a subsequent appearance on the American morning talk show LIVE with Kelly and Mark, McGregor clarified that the incident was a skit and all was well. Suggesting that the mascot was fine, the Irishman stated:

"No. That was part of the skit. It was all a skit. We were backstage. All is well. It was just part of the show. It blew up, you know. I recently made my acting debut. And I’m not a bad actor, you know."

Watch McGregor discuss the topic in the video below:

Conor McGregor's last fight was a lightweight bout against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. McGregor lost the matchup via first-round TKO after suffering a leg injury. The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion has been on an injury hiatus ever since.

That said, McGregor served as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 31 opposite rival coach Michael Chandler earlier this year. The TUF season premiered last month (May 2023) and is expected to run till mid-August. Furthermore, the consensus is that McGregor is likely to make his long-awaited return to the octagon against Chandler later this year, potentially in a welterweight bout.

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Conor McGregor punches mascot, elicits cut-throat reaction from UFC president Dana White

Conor McGregor made headlines by punching the Miami Heat mascot, Burnie, drawing mixed reactions. During the UFC 289 post-fight press conference on June 10th, Dana White appeared to be critical of the incident. The UFC president indicated that McGregor and the mascot shouldn't have been part of the segment in which the latter gets punched.

Dana White alluded to the fact that sports mascots in the US often participate in comedic skits, wherein they get punched by professional fighters. He recalled that heavyweight boxing star Deontay Wilder was in a similar skit wherein he punched and reportedly hurt a mascot. Lambasting the idea of mascots agreeing to be punched by fighters, White said:

"What do you expect? I mean what are those mascot things made out of? Unless you're like the Golden Knights mascot, I don't even know what the hell he wears but I'm assuming it's a metal helmet, I wouldn't have professional fighters punching me in the face if I was a mascot. Doesn't seem like the brightest thing in the world."

Watch White's assessment at 9:42 in the video below: