AN MMA fighter has emerged victorious after battling a 10ft alligator in an elementary school parking lot.
Amateur fighter and veteran Mike Dragich, 33, was roared on by a crowd of almost onlookers as he grappled with the huge reptile in Jacksonville, Florida.
He bravely fought the enormous animal
He’s no stranger to reptiles
The gator had been roaming around the school grounds prior to being cornered by law enforcement.
Mike took matters into his own hands, as detailed in a wild viral video.
The MMA scrapper is seen grabbing the giant animal by the tail and whipping it about before using a catch pole on the gator’s neck.
The gator hisses and bares its teeth towards Mike, who is not fased, and continues his battle.
Mike then leapt onto the alligator’s back and pinned the animal to the floor as cops rushed in.
He successfully stopped the gator from thrashing to applause from concerned watching residents.
Dragich told Fox 35 Orlando: “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.
“I felt like Batman, for real, you know.”
And Mike’s MMA fighting experience certainly came in handy as he went toe-to-toe with the reptile as police assisted.
He continued: “A lot of fighters will understand that 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.”
With over 1.3million alligators in the Sunshine State, Florida residents are able to call about “nuisance” gators over four feet if they’re potentially posing a threat to people or pets.
Viewers of the viral video were shocked at Mike’s heroic actions.
One commented: “An alligator at school??? Florida is just built differently.”
Another said: “Imagine looking up info on your next MMA opponent and you see this video…”
Dragic has an MMA record of 2-2-0 and last fought at Premier Fight League 35 in December 2022.
He earned a spectacular first-round KO win over Jaguar West, taking the vacant PFL Middleweight Championship.
The beast flipped and twisted in an attempt to escape
He managed to jump on the gator’s back and finally restrain it
The 10ft beast was no match for the veteran and MMA fighter
The massive gator was overtaken by Mike
