Barefoot Florida MMA fighter wrangles 8-foot alligator with bare hands

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Florida man took on a large alligator that was disturbing the peace in a downtown Jacksonville neighborhood over the weekend, and the wild encounter was all caught on camera.

FOX 35 Orlando reports that Mike Dragich had no tools on him – just his bare hands – when he went up against the 8-foot gator seen in the middle of the road. Dragich didn’t even have shoes on.

The MMA fighter, also known as the @bluecollar_brawler on social media, went viral last June when he captured another alligator that was found in a parking lot near a Jacksonville elementary school.

He said the recent incident was one of his wildest catches yet, and it’s all caught on video.

“He was running towards the cops, and a crowd of people, and everybody was screaming,” Dragich said, describing the recent encounter.

Dragich told FOX 35 News he was at a hockey game with his family when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office alerted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) about the nuisance reptile, and he was dispatched because he is also a licensed alligator trapper.

“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.

Like the previous incident in front of the elementary school last year, he says, “I felt like Batman!”