WATCH: MMA Fighter Wrangles 10-Foot Gator Outside Elementary School In The Most Florida Moment Ever
NOTE: This article may include commentary reflecting the author’s position.
How do you get more “Florida” than a Florida Man vs. Gator fight?
You don’t.
Video of amateur MMA fighter Mike Dragich taking on a 10-foot gator while crowd of 200 watched is going viral on social media.
A Florida MMA fighter had the match of a lifetime when he wrestled a 10-foot alligator in front of nearly 200 cheering spectators outside a Jacksonville elementary school, wild video of the encounter shows.
Amateur fighter Mike Dragich, 33, took on the unusual opponent inside a parking lot near the school as people gathered to watch, FOX 35 Orlando reported.
“We get there. I walked through the gate. And boom. There it was just ready to go right there in the parking lot, and we just had to get the job done,” he told the local station.
Source: New York Post
This wasn’t the first time that Dragich tousled with a gator — he is a licensed “Gator Trapper” for Duval County.
In the video, Dragich approaches with his catch pole while the gator has its mouth open aggressively. It then cuts to Dragich standing behind the gator and tapping its tail. The gator turns and you can hear an audible snap from its jaws. Some in the crowd scream in response.
Dragich then tries to drag the gator by the tail, but it gets away.
The video then cuts to Dragich snagging the gator around the neck with his catch pole. The animal rolls around several times trying to escape.
Eventually, Dragich subdues the gator with the help of several members of Jacksonville Fire-Rescue.
“I said it before, I felt like Batman, for real, you know, I show up. I walk out. There are a lot of comments saying I look like Stone Cold walking up to this alligator,” Dragich told FOX 35.
The video then shows Dragich, along with several firefighters sitting on the gator while three others assist in keeping the reptile down.
“A lot of fighters will understand that uh, when you go to the cage, you’re nervous but once that cage door closes, you gotta be focused and honestly that’s what I remembered from that night,” Dragich said.
Source: FOX 35 Orlando
Watch:
“I always tell people, be very careful and don’t do what I’m doing on social media. But, I can promise you, that the animals are respected and they are dealt with in a professional manner each and every time, regardless of what it may look like on social media,” Dragich told FOX 35.
There’s a lot more to Mike Dragich than MMA and gator trapping. The husband and father is a devoted Christian and a former Marine. He joined the US Marine Corps after surviving a shooting as a teenager.
Dragich also runs a charity, Project Saviour Outdoors, a nonprofit organization devoted to assisting veterans with PTSD and preventing elderly suicide. According to the website, Project Saviour Outdoors does this by “connecting Veterans with the great outdoors & sharing the true freedom that comes through Jesus Christ!”
TMZ interviewed Dragich:
He also appeared on America’s Newsroom on Fox News on Friday morning. He showed how this gator destroyed his stainless steel catch pole.
Now that guy is a real Badass Believer! Awesome.
ClashDaily salutes you, Mike Dragich! Stay Rowdy!
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Source:
Griffin, Allie. “Florida MMA fighter wrestles 10-foot alligator near elementary school.” New York Post. June 1, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/01/florida-mma-fighter-mike-dragich-wrestles-10-foot-alligator-near-elementary-school/
FOX 35 News Staff. “Video shows crowd screaming as Florida man wrangles, captures large alligator by elementary school.” FOX 35 Orlando. May 31, 2023. https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/video-shows-crowd-screaming-as-florida-man-wrangles-captures-large-alligator-by-elementary-school
