MMA fighter and U.S. military veteran Mike Dragich knew he had to act when a ten-foot-long alligator threatened kids outside a Jacksonville, Florida, elementary school.
Dragich, who is part of Florida’s Nuisance Alligator Program, was called out to the school when the gator proved unwilling to leave the area around the school, and administrators became fearful that the creature might harm a child.
“When I showed up, all the pressure was really off,” Dragich said Friday on Fox’s America’s Newsroom. “I walked through those gates, and I saw the big alligator, and I knew the job had to get done. So we got it done.”
Before a group of some 200 bystanders, Dragich, a former U.S. Marine, waded into the situation in an attempt to collar the gator and drag it away from the school.
MMA fighter Mike Dragich wrestled a 10-Foot alligator outside of a Florida school 🐊 pic.twitter.com/OquALDsae5
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 2, 2023
“When I approach an alligator, I do my best to get them tired,” Dragich said of how he approaches the job of gator removal. “They range in energy levels, but I do my best to get it tired. That’s why I was poking and prodding. Once they’re tired is when the work happens. And then you can subdue the animal and get it out of there.”
Dragich also showed Fox a stainless-steel pole that the gator bent out of shape with its powerful jaws.
The ex-fighter and veteran also spoke about his non-profit, Project Savior Outdoors.
“Our mission is to fight PTSD and veterans’ suicide by connecting with the outdoors and sharing the true freedom that comes through Jesus Christ. He’s already won the war, and a relationship with him will bring that true freedom.”
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