A Florida MMA fighter used his bare hands to subdue an 8-foot alligator that crawled through the streets of Jacksonville’s Northside Sunday night.
Mike Dragich, 34, known as the “Blue Collar Brawler,” was at a nearby hockey game with his family when he received a nuisance alligator call from the sheriff’s department.
A certified alligator trapper and military veteran, Dragich did not have his catching gear with him during the match, but he responded to the call anyway and drove to a local shopping plaza, where he spotted the snarling creature.
Using his bare hands and feet, Dragich pinned down the large alligator and was able to capture it without any equipment.
Mike Draggich, 34, used his bare hands to subdue an enraged alligator in Jacksonville’s Northside
Draggich (pictured with a previous catch) is a certified alligator hunter. When he received the nuisance alligator call, Draggich was playing hockey with his family, so he had no catching equipment with him.
Video taken at the scene shows the alligator lumbering across the road as the trapper chases it.
Dragich could be seen approaching behind the alligator before jumping onto its back and pressing on its neck. The enraged alligator’s jaws opened and it seemed to hiss.
The veteran then pressed the alligator’s head down and applied great force until the creature’s snout lay flat on the ground.
Dragich pulled up the alligator’s jaws and deftly wrapped its mouth shut with a special tape.
After subduing the 8-foot giant, the “Blue Collar Brawler” hoisted the alligator and marched down the highway with the struggling creature in his arms.
Spectators thronged the streets to get a look at the local hero. Many bystanders had their phones off and were recording the entire spectacle.
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office called the alligator emergency to FWC and I was dispatched. It was only five minutes before the game, so I literally left the game, caught the alligator and then went back to the game,” Dragich said.
Dragich, a military veteran and MMA fighter, was able to subdue the 8-foot alligator in front of a crowd of spectators
April is the start of mating season for alligators, so similar incidents abound during the month.
Dragich has built a reputation for his daring removal of alligators, amassing tens of thousands of followers online.
Last June, the veteran and MMA fighter was dispatched to remove an aggressive three-foot alligator from a parking lot near Jacksonville Elementary School. Relying on his bare hands again, Dragich wrestled the giant reptile in front of a crowd of cheering spectators.
“I really felt like Batman, you know,” he told FOX 35 Orlando.
‘We will get there. I walked through the gate. And boom. There it was ready to go to the parking lot, and we just had to get the job done,” he added.
In the video of the incident, the giant alligator snaps at Dragich as he tries to grab him by the tail.
Dressed in a muscle shirt, he can be seen trying to pin it down using a catch pole as they battle it out on the grass in front of screaming spectators.
The local veteran places the loop at the end of the pole around the alligator’s neck.
You can see the animal rolling around in circles, desperate to shake off its opponent.
With the catch pole still around the alligator’s neck, Dragich jumps onto the animal’s shoulders and sits down to hold it, joined by several Jacksonville firefighters.
Dragich has previously received attention for his daring removal of alligators. He has tens of thousands of online followers
“A lot of fighters will understand that you are nervous when you go to the cage, but as soon as the cage door closes you have to be focused and honestly I remembered that from that night,” Dragich said.
Dragich has made the most of his fame by drawing people’s attention to Project Savior Outdoors, a nonprofit organization he founded that offers retreats to military veterans to help prevent suicide.
According to the nonprofit’s mission statement, their goal is “to combat PTSD and veteran suicide in the outdoors.”
“Our prayer is that ALL veterans will forge community, ignite purpose and brave the darkness.”