Video caught the moment a mixed martial arts fighter took down a large alligator that was wreaking havoc in downtown Jacksonville, Florida, FOX35 reported Tuesday.
The wrestling match between the eight-foot-long gator and MMA fighter Mike Dragich happened in the middle of a busy road last weekend, according to FOX35.
Dragich, who goes by the name @bluecollar_brawler on social media, didn’t have shoes on when he took on the gator, FOX35 reported. (RELATED: Military Veteran MMA Fighter Mike Dragich Brawls And Catches 10-Foot Alligator Outside Florida Elementary School)
A Florida trapper says he was at a nearby hockey game with his family when he heard a gator needed to be removed. Mike Dragich is an MMA fighter and licensed gator trapper. No word on why he wasn’t wearing shoes. 😱 @fox35orlando https://t.co/Iec4mJ7ZMz
— Amy Kaufeldt FOX 35 (@Fox35Amy) April 22, 2024
The video shows Dragich following the gator toward the middle of the road as vehicles drive by slowly and police look on. He gets behind the giant reptile, grabs its tail and then kneels on its back, clamping its jaws shut before picking him up and showing him to a cheering crowd that had gathered at the scene.
Although Dragich is a licensed alligator trapper, he didn’t have any tools with him and had to subdue the gator with his bare hands, FOX35 reported.
He told FOX35 that this gator capture was one of his craziest.
“He was running towards the cops, and a crowd of people, and everybody was screaming,” Dragich said.
Dragich told FOX35 that he was at a local hockey game with his family when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office alerted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) about the gator in the street and that he was the one tasked with solving the problem.
“It was only five minutes from the game, so I literally left the game, caught the alligator, and then went back to the game,” Dragich said.
This wasn’t the first time that Dragich was called on to take down a wayward gator. Last year a video of him capturing another alligator in a parking lot near a Jacksonville elementary school went viral, FOX35 reported.
Dragich, who says he is “all things Florida,” told FOX35 that just like last year’s capture near the elementary school, this one made him feel like “Batman.”