Latest extreme sport: Alligator wrestling!

London, March 11 : Wrestling in the US is no more confined to the ring - fighters are now trying their might against the strength of alligators in a pool.

Florida''s Freestyle Alligator Competition, a brainchild of James Holt, aims to transform the tribal tradition of alligator wrestling into an extreme sport.

Holt comes from an American Indian family where alligator wrestling has been practised for generations.

"We do it the way it was done back then. That''s what this competition is," Sky News quoted him, as saying.

He went on: "We''re recreating it as it would have been done in the wild. We have a deep water pit. These alligator wrestlers are going to jump in there. They''re going to show whatever skills they have."

Competitors are marked on six parameters: aggressiveness of the alligator, difficulty of the move, style, appearance, showmanship and water wrangling.

Holt, who established the event last year, dismisses allegations of animal cruelty.

He said: "We definitely would love to have guys from Australia, guys from Thailand. Those guys are really good at what they do too."

Paul Bedard, a wrestler, said: "People like to go watch hockey games for the fights and car races for the wrecks. People like to watch alligator wrestling for the bites."