Dana White reacts to Conor McGregor injuring NBA mascot with viral punch gone wrong

Dana White isn’t surprised that Conor McGregor hurt the Miami Heat’s mascot.

Asked for his reaction to McGregor’s latest attention-grabbing stunt, White indicated the people who invited the former two-division champ onto the court should have been a little more careful about using “The Notorious.”

“I saw the Deontay Wilder one, too,” said White, referring to a 2018 clip in which the former heavyweight champ leveled an ESPN Nacion mascot. “What’s up with mascots wanting to get punched in the face by professional fighters?

“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 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.”

McGregor appeared mid-game at Miami’s Kaseya Center for Game 4 of the NBA Finals to promote his cryotherapy spray. Wearing a red track suit, he encountered “Burnie,” the Heat’s mascot, who had donned a pair of boxing gloves. McGregor let go of a left hand and then threw in another punch for good measure as Burnie lay on the court.

Later, it was revealed that the fake fight had real consequences when the man in the Burnie costume reportedly went to the ER with minor injuries.

McGregor, who just wrapped a coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter 31 opposite Michael Chandler, is expected to return to the octagon at the end of this year in his first fight since suffering a broken leg at UFC 264 in July 2021.