A hilarious promotion quickly turned violent on Friday after MMA fighter Conor McGregor accidentally knocked out the Miami Heat mascot “Burnie” during Game 4 of the NBA Finals and sent him to the hospital.
In what was supposed to be a staged tiff between the two to promote pain relief spray TIDL, McGregor was play-punching Burnie during a time-out in the third quarter and then spraying the product on him to help with “pain.”
McGregor, however, punched the mascot a little too hard (and more than once) — way past the point of TIDL being able to do anything.
McGregor hit the mascot a second time in the chest, and Burnie had to be dragged away by security and medical personnel after hitting the ground.
Several videos on social media show the harsh blow from McGregor and the subsequent exit of Burnie from the game.
Conor McGregor knocks out the Heat mascot pic.twitter.com/X2t4P7LCS2
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 10, 2023
Conner mcgregor accidentally knocks out mascot after punching him,sending him to the hospital pic.twitter.com/Pj5s3Mtgq0
— lil_kester (@yallmeetjuniorr) June 11, 2023
Conor McGregor just knocked out Burnie pic.twitter.com/w1IdovFhrX
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) June 10, 2023
TIDL is McGregor’s plant-based topical spray that aims to relieve pain quickly through cooling technology.
The Athletic reported that the man inside the mascot costume was given pain medication at the hospital before being released and is “doing well.”
“It’s the Miami Heat toughness that we are talking about,” Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters postgame about Burnie’s incident. “Should’ve been allowed to take the first swing. We won’t reveal who that is but he’s tough. Take a punch and get back up. Yeah, he’s not going to miss any time.”
The Heat will take on the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday. The Nuggets are leading the series 3-1.
