It's a goofy suit, but not a suit of armor. The person who plays the Miami Heat mascot discovered this distinction the hard way Saturday when a PR stunt with MMA fighter Conor McGregor went awry, reports the Athletic. McGregor walloped "Burnie" with a fierce left hook, then hit poor Burnie again after he hit the floor. Watch the clip here. When it was over, the unidentified person in the suit went to a hospital emergency room, received some pain-relief meds, and is now resting at home, per the AP.
The irony is that it was all a stunt to plug McGregor's pain-relief spray, called TIDL Sport—the fighter can be seen spraying Burnie with it when the mascot was on the ground. The Heat have a partnership with McGregor on the spray, per USA Today. The stunt took place during a stoppage in play during Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets, and while Burnie was clearly intended to end up on the floor as part of a fake fight, McGregor apparently threw a too-real set of punches. As for the game, Denver won and now leads the series 3-1. (More Conor McGregor stories.)
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