Conor McGregor’s profane SportsCenter hit demonstrates value of the seven-second delay

Well, this went well.

Conor McGregor had a SportsCenter hit on Wednesday, promoting his rematch with Nate Diaz at Saturday’s UFC 202.

McGregor’s entire persona is defined by his willingness to say absolutely anything, at any time, to anyone. With that in mind, a live hit with no delay would seem like a bad idea, but ESPN went for it anyway. Lindsay Czarniak opened with a question about the fight presser earlier in the day, to which Conor was late.

Here’s the video, with requisite bleeps included:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oqE4tkzQHU

Now, imagine that, but as it aired live with no bleeps. Here are a few examples (obviously NSFW audio):

So, maybe a delay next time, @SportsCenter… pic.twitter.com/QGLXZXsai3

— ʀᴏʀʏ (@rorymcgrath) August 17, 2016

Espn anchor cursed on live tv at connor McGregor pic.twitter.com/cGPhyhHfrL

— Douglas Padilla (@Doug2k7) August 17, 2016

Oof.

Credit to Czarniak for her professionalism, as she was unflinching in the face of the profanity, pressing onward with the interview and asking solid questions. When you have an athlete like McGregor, it’s probably best to be better safe than sorry, and though we don’t really think that profanity on cable is that big of a deal, ESPN and Disney’s standards probably differ.

UPDATE: A SportsCenter segment producer tweeted that they did indeed have a delay in effect:

https://twitter.com/ICTVgrad07/status/766098976730968064