Viral Spider Fight Video From the Philippines Brings Back Childhood Memories and Debate
SPIDER FIGHT – A video showing a spider-fighting match in the Philippines has gone viral online, with netizens dubbing it the “Spider Fight Club,” as reported on October 27, 2026.
Recently, a clip posted on social media showed two men pitting their spiders against each other. In the video, the spiders were placed on opposite ends of a stick and guided toward the center, where they grappled and tried to toss each other off, WION News reported.
The two men were seen closely following every move of their “players,” while onlookers watched the intense match unfold.
For many Filipinos, the scene brought back memories. Spider fighting, or “sabong ng gagamba,” is a pastime that many kids in the provinces grew up with. Children would hunt for spiders in trees and bushes and keep them inside matchboxes divided with strips of leaves, so the spiders would not attack each other before a match.
Online conversations showed that a lot of netizens fondly remembered playing the game as kids, comparing it to other simple childhood games like pen fights and thumb wars.
However, not everyone was amused. Animal welfare advocates and some netizens called the practice cruel, saying it is wrong to pit two living creatures against each other for entertainment, according to WION.
Reports also noted that while the game itself is generally seen as a harmless rural pastime, it becomes a different matter once betting is involved. Placing bets on spider fights can fall under illegal gambling, Indian news outlets such as Zee News that picked up the viral clip pointed out.
The clip has since been picked up by foreign news outlets, which noted the passion of the two men in the video and the long tradition behind the game.
Did you also play spider fighting when you were a kid? Share your memories in the comments.
Source: WION News, Zee News