Former UFC champion Conor McGregor found himself in hot water this weekend after a basketball skit went very wrong.
On Friday, Miami Heat was playing against the Denver Nuggets in game four of the NBA Finals, during which, the 34-year-old MMA star took part in a staged altercation with the Heat's mascot, Burnie.
Though, what began as a playful tussle ended in a very serious situation after the Irish athlete knocked down Burnie with a heavy left-hand punch.
After the mascot had fallen to the ground, McGregor followed up with a ground-and-pound shot. The scene had been meant to be some innocent and playful fun to promote a cryotherapy pain relief spray, but it obviously didn't go as planned... Even after McGregor spritzed the fallen mascot with some of the spray.
The Athletic reported that McGregor's punches ended up hurting the worker inside the costume to the point where they required real medical treatment, and ended up in the emergency room.
It has since been detailed that the man inside did receive pain medication and was later sent home, where he is recovering. It is believed that he will be absolutely fine.
But in response to the news, some social media users have criticized McGregor for going too far for a comedy skit.
"He actually hit him too hard and sent him to the hospital. McGregor is a disgusting thug," one person tweeted.
A second responded to the news by tweeting: "McGregor being that guy that takes things way too far is not surprising at all."
"Everyone was laughing last night at this when it was clear the mascot got hurt and McGregor went too far," a third wrote, adding: "[By the way], who set this up???"
As for McGregor, the UFC legend - who has competed in both featherweight and lightweight divisions - has not competed since his loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021's UFC 264, during which the Dublin-born fighter broke his leg.
Earlier this year, McGregor opened up about his road to recovery following the devastating (and potentially career-ending) injury in an interview with Barstool Sports. "It was very very tough times, they were very tough times and very unsure times [...] It is a tough one there is no two ways about it. I'm blessed I had the best care and attention to it medically, thank you to the UFC and doctors for working on me."
He added: "I had the best surgeons, doctors and I got it back thank god and I am already back better than ever. I'm excited to be back, and the bionic knee and I have been dropping the guys with the back shot, I have been dropping them all."
However, McGregor is expected to make a comeback sometime this year in a fight against Michael Chandler.
As for how the sports world is handling his most recent KO - his first since 2016 - it's not yet certain whether McGregor will bear any responsibility or face any consequences for the skit.
By the looks of it at least, it's certainly not a good advertisement for the pain relief spray...
