The controversial sport is leaving TikTok viewers with ‘so many questions’
Social media users are all saying the same thing after a ‘wild’ video of ‘spider fighting’ has gone viral.
The world of sport is much larger than just soccer, baseball and basketball – there’s everything from ostrich racing to chess boxing, Sepak takraw and the English favourite, cheese rolling.
Another unique sport that is currently sweeping the internet is spider fighting.
Popular in countries such as Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines, spider fighting or a local spider derby commonly sees two female web weavers going head-to-head in a brutal battle to the death.
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According to an Ateneo de Manila University paper published by Ty Matejowsky in 2003, Filipino children and adults alike collect, train and rehabilitate spiders to duel with another of its species.
Matches are organized, bets are placed and according to the study, this type of wrestling represents ‘for many youths the first stage of what can become a lifelong gambling obsession.’
This blood sport routinely begins with contenders placing their spiders at the end of a stick, usually made from bamboo or taken from a broom.
The contestants will then prod their eight-legged beast along before it encounters another of its species.
Then the pair will begin its duel, with the victor being crowned as the spider that comes out alive.
While this sport isn’t exactly an illegal pastime, it is frowned upon in some areas.
Various cities across Asia have gone as far as to implement ordinances against the sport.
However, that hasn’t stopped one spider wrestle from making its way online recently.
Earlier this month, a TikToker known as @ricktastico took to the platform to post a video of a spider derby.
In the clip, two spiders can be seen edging along a stick before competing in combat with one another.
Following the fight to the death, the champion is placed back in its box to rest before embarking on its next battle.
The 55-second wrestling match has been seen by a whopping 3.4 million people and tons of TikTok users have rushed to the comments to have their say on the spectacle.
@ricktastico Ghetto pokemon #pokemon #TrainerBattle ♬ original sound – El.Guapo
One viewer commented: “No way I just saw a spider get boxed irl,” as a second said: “Spider getting boxed up before GTA 6 is insane.”
“I would become heavily addicted to gambling to this,” remarked someone else, while a fourth user typed: “Did this in 6th grade with 20 people and a brown widow vs black widow. Just Florida things.”
Another wrote: “So many questions. How bored are you to start a spider fight club? How did you find out spiders would fight each other? Where/who makes all the supplies?”
And a sixth added: “People be doing everything but learning at school.”
