I saw that a while ago, and as stupid as he was I think the guy rolled with the gators death role by choice and it actually saved his hand, well at least it wasn't the gators snack??
What is really interesting, you can watch the guys hold the gator/croc's mouth open, and then the dude sicks his head in the critter's mouth. At least you could in Thailand back in the mid 80's. Been there, WATCHED that. (Notice that I said "WATCHED", not "DID"!!! Hey I'm not THAT stupid...) Apparently they still do it!