[ clank ]
[ electricity crackles ]
robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
♪♪
Welcome to battle.
Where taking your aggression
out on your opponent
is perfectly fine,
as long as an opponent
is a military grade,
fully weaponized robot
of mass destruction,
not exceeding 250 pounds.
I'm chris rose here with the man
who has finally learned
to control his anger,
ufc legend and our analyst,
kenny florian.
Chris, I'm a man of peace now.
These arms are only for hugs.
Ah, that is so sweet.
Well, we won't see
any hugging tonight
as we've got some new blood
and returning favorites,
all looking for their first
win of the season.
For tonight's spots,
their battle to the top
begins right now, it's time
for some full metal carnage.
Alright.
Let's get to our fight card.
We've got a handful
of brand new bots
ready to leave their mark
in the box tonight.
That's right. Four rookie bots
brandishing four
terrifying weapons,
tracer looks to break in
its deadly vertical spinner
while the aptly named grappler,
claw viper, faces off
against fellow newbie hijinx.
One of two new
horizontal spinners here tonight
alongside perfect phoenix,
driven by tyler nguyen.
And at just 11 years old,
we've heard tyler
has the potential
to be one of the better drivers
in the competition
and is a disciple of the king of
chaos himself, ray billings.
And if you like
big bots and who doesn't?
Boy, do we have
a super-sized match up for you.
It's the return
of an even taller mammoth
taking on fan favorite huge.
A true clash of the titans
that has us wondering
how are they both
going to fit in the box?
It literally couldn't
get any bigger.
And in our main event,
its last season's runner up,
witch doctor
and andrea gellatly,
who hopes to finish the job
and finally take home
the giant nut.
But on the path
to potential victory,
their first step
is quite a doozy.
A doozy is right, chris.
They're up against the whyachi
clan's fearsome flipper hydra...
A second-year bot that already
took the scene by storm
when they literally tossed
the legendary bronco aside
to claim their throne as current
king of the flippers.
That's all coming up
later tonight.
But right now, let's kick
things off with some style.
After a hiatus from robot
combat, the tough-as-nails,
chuck pitzer is back
with his bot ghost raptor.
Looking to shake off the rust
against shiny second-year
hammer bot shatter!
That night is going
to be all-out insane.
Faruq, let's fire this baby up.
[ cheers and applause ]
ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
It's robot-fighting time!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
In the blue square,
boo! Did I scare you?
I'm just trying to prepare you
for a terrifying apparition
here to win
the w*r of attrition.
You can't walk away even though
you're aghast.
Its back, the ghost
of "battlebots" past.
Its ghost raptor!
[ cheers and applause ]
there he is, chuck pitzer,
and ghost raptor,
all the way back in season one,
a surprise semifinalist after a
notable victory over icewave.
The next year,
he got pounded by razor back
and hasn't competed since.
That's right.
Chuck is an emotional guy
who fights
with his heart on his sleeve.
It was actually his teammates
who convinced him
to dust off his controller
and come back
for another season.
We know he's dangerous,
so I'm curious to see
how he comes out here tonight.
[ cheers and applause ]
in the red square,
this bot is from brooklyn,
home of the jigga baby,
and his hammer will drop beats
like his name was jay-z
hammer, ax, spike,
whatever you're calling them,
you've got 99 problems,
and this bot is all of 'em.
[ vocalizes ]
it's shatter!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
There's adam wrigley
and his shimmering
hammer bot shatter!
Last year, bringing more bark
than bite with a 2-2 record.
Now he's back and ready to get
down to business, kenny.
He absolutely is, chris.
Adam was disappointed
in his showing last season,
and he's on a mission to prove
that he's more
than just a pretty bot
they brought back
that ablative armor,
which is designed
to shear off the bot
while absorbing
incoming kinetic energy.
Pitzer: It's my first time back.
In some ways
I feel like a stranger.
In some ways I feel like
I'm coming home.
The robot that you're seeing
in today's fight
is not the same robot,
really, that fought,
you know, back in
season 1 and season 2.
In order for shatter!
To get a good shot at me,
he's got to go through
the weapon.
But if he does hit me
and I'm spun up,
he's going to pay for it.
So I think it'll do pretty well.
Wrigley: Ghost raptor
is an interesting robot
because it's
a horizontal spinner
that can adjust the height
that it hits that.
We're just going to jam
the hammer into their weapon.
So if you've ever seen
someone jam a twig
into someone's bicycle wheel,
that's what we're going to try
and do with their bar
and our hammer.
We really want to come out
the game with a win.
And a win against ghost raptor,
you know, a legacy team from the
original run of "battlebots"
that would be huge.
♪♪
Time now to check in
with peter abrahamson
our all-knowing bot whisper.
Peter, what's going on
with this fight?
I'm really torn because
there's two bots here
that I love, both of.
Ghost raptor being driven by
chuck.
He's really brought
what looks like
a pretty beefy bot this time
and can probably deliver
a pretty good punch
and then he's going against
shatter! Who's got omni-wheels
that allow it to not only roll
in the direction
that the wheel normally goes,
but to track sideways
and really aim that hammer.
So this is going to be
a fun fight.
Man: Fire.
The 2020 season
continues in... oh!
Shatter! Tests that hammer
some of their ablative
armor falls off.
Of course, that's all by design.
Is adam wrigley getting
a little chuckle.
Who's going to clean that up?
Blue team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
red team, ready.
Go!
Rose: Adam wrigley
ready and set.
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
♪♪
Let the bot battle begin!
Here goes that horizontal
spinner from ghost raptor.
Oh! Shatter! Drops the hammer.
A shot to the top
of ghost raptor.
Now ghost raptor, looking
to take shatter! For a ride.
Adam wrigley's bot firing
away here
at the start of the fight,
landing series of blows.
Shatter! The aggressor here
in the opening minute
of this fight, chris.
Did ghost raptor suffer
some damage
to that primary weapon,
in those exchanges?
That's better, looks like it
may have gone down.
Shatter! Just refusing
to let up with that hammer.
These are violent swings.
Well, there's a big piece of
shatter! That has
already come off.
And now that ghost raptor
seems to have lost
that primary weapon, chris,
chuck pitzer is faced
with trying to win
a control battle here.
You can see ghost raptor to
trying to use the battle box
to its advantage.
Once again, it's been four years
since we saw this bot
in competition.
Oh, there you go.
There's a shot.
Shatter! Playing
a little opossum there.
Now ghost raptor looking
to find some space to breathe.
Right now, chris,
the difference is
the driving of chuck pitzer,
I think the speed
of ghost raptor
giving shatter!
A lot of problems out there.
Some smoke coming from
ghost raptor right now.
That is not a good sign.
Closing in on 90 second fast.
I saw a fire.
Uh-oh, and now, now some fire.
And once again, we have flames
inside the battle box.
Ghost raptor in serious trouble,
but, oh, shatter!
Also seems to be
incapacitated, kenny.
Wow!
After a back and forth fight,
could we now be headed
for a double k.O.?
Referee: Can you show me
any kind of movement?
No. Shatter! Wiggles free.
Ghost raptor still not moving.
Ghost raptor, I've got to see
some movement.
I'm not seeing any movement
on you.
I think that's going to be it.
And there it is,
the countdown has begun.
Shatter!
Will be able to celebrate
its first win of the year.
...Three, two, one.
Ghost raptor is knocked out,
winner is shatter!
[ cheering ]
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
And after a four-year hiatus,
it is heartbreak city
for chuck pitzer
and his return
to the battle box.
Kenny, this thing
basically ended
after 10 or 15 seconds
of two critical hits.
Yeah, but give some credit
to ghost raptor
in his first fight back.
Chuck never said die.
He lost his primary
weapon early,
but he got in there with that
lifter and stayed in the fight.
But that hammer of shatter!
Came to work.
Adam wrigley landing blow
after blow after blow.
Ghost raptor
eventually caught fire.
For a moment, both bots
looked like they were cooked.
But shatter! Managed
to find its legs
and secure the victory
in its 2020 debut.
[ cheers and applause ]
man: Go get 'em!
Adam wrigley, turn around.
[ laughs ]
yeah, you're all smiles.
How are you feeling out there?
Pretty good. Pretty good.
Most of the upgrades
were working pretty good.
So it looked nice.
Adam, there was a huge hit
early on that
was either
the first or second one.
Do you think that's where
the match turned?
Yeah, I mean, that's what
we were trying to do,
we wanted to come out,
jam that weapon up
to make a big expl*si*n.
We thought their weapon
was kind of directly linked.
Not a lot of shock mounting
in between the motor
and the weapon bar.
So if we could get in there,
get that big impact,
something would blow up inside.
Seems like that's what happened.
Yeah, we were pretty excited
with that.
Florian:
There are some nice hits
from both bots there.
It seems like it came down
to durability.
Are you pleased with the
durability of your to?
We're going to take a look
at some things.
I thought it was going
a little slow at the end there,
and we don't want
that to happen.
I want to be driving fast,
the whole match.
So we're going to take it apart,
find out what was
slowing us down.
But I'm happy the hammer
worked the whole time.
I'm happy we could
take those hits,
dish them out,
and I thought it looked good.
I know you got long hair.
You can go let your hair
down now after your win.
No, really. You can...
Can you let your hair down?
It's pulling a little tight.
But you know,
maybe if we win a few more
I'll take my hair down.
Oh, you're going to
tease us like that.
Oh, I see it. I see it.
Okay, adam wrigley and shatter!,
congratulations.
Thank you.
[ cheers and applause ]
rose: He's got the hair,
he's got the confidence,
and now he's got
his first win, kenny.
Yeah, well, listen,
I think he's pretty confident
from last season,
but what he did out there
I think he's definitely
a team to watch.
And for our friend chuck pitzer
and ghost raptor,
it's not the start
they were looking for,
but it's great to know
they are back in action.
Alright. Coming up,
things are getting sketchy.
Tracer takes on the mean,
green fighting machine ribbot.
And later tonight,
it's the battle of the beasts...
Mammoth takes on huge.
Let's take a closer look.
♪♪
Tauheed: It's huge!
- Ah!
- Oh!
Yeah!
Tauheed: It's mammoth!
- Whoa!
- Yeah, we got him!
Huge and mammoth
are both such unique robots,
rose: Huge, really throwing
his weight around.
Willems:
Simply because no one's faced
something like them before.
- Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
- Huge is lining up the weapon.
When the two of them
come together...
- Oh!
- Oh!
Nobody knows
what's going to happen.
- Holy smokes.
- When we look at the robots,
we don't know
what we're going to hit.
Mammoth on the attack.
We don't know what we can reach.
Foxtrot's caught in there.
But we don't know
how the other one works.
Misery.
And we're not prepared
for each other.
Hit him, hit him! Yeah!
We are back on "battlebots:
Fight night"
and we are just getting started
with tonight's
heavy hitting fight card.
Right now it's the return
of the crew from wpi, ribbot,
who will be facing off
against rookie bot tracer.
And let's start with tracer.
We've got jason woods.
He is the captain of tracer,
a first-time captain
here at "battlebots"
looking to make a splash
in his debut fight.
He's bringing some heat with
a mean-looking vertical spinner.
And a lot of people
in the pits better be careful
because this guy could fight.
Florian: He can for sure.
And even though he's driving
an untested bot,
a lot of people believe
he's one of the dark horses
in this tournament.
Last year, a new robot
to the fight was ribbot,
captained by david jin.
Of course, they're all
the kids from wpi.
He actually just got his degree
had a solid first season at 3-3,
but they have higher hopes
for this season.
How do you like these guys,
kenny?
Well, I tell you what,
they're proof
that you can really do
a lot of damage
and be successful in your
very first season
in "battlebots,"
if you do things right.
They're coming
into their second season
with a wealth of experience
and a whole lot to prove.
So look out
for these guys as well.
By the way,
david jin did graduate.
There's a few team members
that are taking quizzes
and have a proctor here
during the tournament.
Can you help them study or...?
No. No.
No, no. Me neither.
Faruq, it's all yours.
[ cheers and applause ]
in the blue square,
from gold river, california
it's tracer!
[ cheers and applause ]
thirty-six-year-old jason woods,
he said,
"you better look out
because my bot
could definitely take a punch."
that's right.
He's confident that his bot
is one of the sturdiest
built bots in the field.
And you better believe
he has full faith
in that 50-pound
vertical spinner on offense.
A good looking bot.
And the red square
from worcester, mass.
Ribbot!
[ cheers and applause ]
kenny, where did
the foam frog legs go?
Ah, yeah, they had
to switch things up.
It was really messy
in the battle box last season
and I had to clean it up,
so I didn't want any part of it.
And they've got their choice
of four weapons.
They're going with...?
The undercutter.
You see that red undercutter
right there.
They're going to look to try
to attack the back of tracer
and try to get to the wheels.
♪♪
Woods:
It's funny, in years past,
they were always the fun team,
they got their robot foam
sprayed everywhere.
But make no mistake,
we were sneaking on them
in the box last night
and that thing is fired up.
It's going to be kind of
a full frontal attack.
Not a lot of jujitsu going on.
We got a lot of armor,
pretty scary weapons.
So I'm glad I'm driving ours.
If everything works
as it should,
it should be
pretty invulnerable.
Jin: It'd be really great
for our morale
and our momentum going into
the rest of the season,
if we can get
a win against tracer.
Because we're
a horizontal spinner,
and we don't have any gyroscopic
possession,
which means that our robot is
at its maximum maneuverability.
If we can get tracer
to the middle of the arena,
then we'll be able to hopefully
drive circles around them
and pick and choose
when to hit them.
We're expecting to can see a lot
of sparks this match.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
tracer looks ready to go.
He's also going to use
a mini bot called clean cut,
which looks like
a little vacuum out there.
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
the frog lives. Mm-hmm.
Let the bot battle begin!
Both weapons firing.
Oh, big hit and a collision
right out of the gate!
And look out,
ribbot throws a wheel.
But right back in it.
Oh! Tracer's on it's back.
The frog is alive!
Now, he's going after
the mini bot.
Man: Bye!
Oh, yeah!
Kenny, tracer has no
self-righting mechanism.
Can it get that weapon kicked
back and flip himself over?
If not, it's game over.
Referee:
...Counting you out in 10...
Oh, the count down
has already started, no!
Tracer still spinning
those wheels in desperation.
That's gonna do it.
...Three, two, one.
Tracer is knocked out.
Winner, ribbot.
An unbelievable job by ribbot
and the kid from wpi.
My goodness.
How's this for a welcoming
to "battlebots"?
Kenny, tracer's plan
was to box rush ribbot
and go weapon to weapon,
which looked like a great idea
for about three seconds.
Yeah, there's nothing
like that first hit
to get you to the fight.
And clearly, ribbot woke up
after that,
wheeling around to deliver
a one-and-done strike.
And without any kind of
self-righting mechanism,
tracer didn't have a hope.
And just like my old
grandpappy used to tell me,
if you want to win
in the battle box,
you've got to be able
to self-right.
♪♪
You've got a guy on him.
Chris has got his eye on him.
David jin, is that exactly the
way you thought it would go?
Not entirely.
They were a little more mobile
than I was hoping,
but we got a bit of a bad hit
on the first one.
But the second hit was great.
I mean, they're fast.
We wanted to go around them,
but I don't think
that was going to happen.
So we decided to go
to the backup plan,
which just straight
for the weapon.
Florian: You know, this season
you said confidence
was going to be big
for you guys.
How confident are you right now?
I think we feel very good.
Do we feel pretty good?
- Yeah!
- Alright.
Well, I don't want
to be the downer.
David, you've already graduated,
ryan, let's see the wide shot
real quick here.
Raise your hands, guys.
If you have a quiz or an exam
coming up in the next week
or so.
[ laughs ] aw, man.
Man, does any... raise your hand
if you want kenny's help
preparing.
Oh, okay. Alright.
See? They like me, chris.
That's nice. Guys...
I can't help you,
but they like me.
Just remember, guys,
kenny's not a judge.
He's just a broadcaster, you
don't have to brown nose him.
Best of luck in the exams.
And david jin and team ribbot.
Best of luck in the future.
Thanks for the time.
Rose: Alright, coming up,
it's the battle
of the mythical beasts
as black dragon takes on kraken.
But first, let's check in
with jenny taft,
who caught up with black dragon
earlier tonight.
Man: Black dragon
just stalking his prey.
Well, safe to say,
gabriel, black dragon
came prepared for this season
of "battlebots,"
what's new about the robot?
When the season ended last year,
we lost to lock jaw
in a tough match.
Oh, this is tony.
Domination by lockjaw right now.
But it's time to think
about what we could do
to win the giant nut.
Well, it seems like you've been
doing more than thinking.
With everything you've got here,
tell me about a few of these.
So this is the lightest weight
that we have.
We used against somewhat
like kraken
because we don't need a lot of
protection in our front.
So this weight can go
underneath them and use armor
and other things in the top.
The other ways we designed it
because we lost against
lockjaw last season.
So we need something that can
have this protection up front
and have some things
go underneath them.
This other one we had some guess
after the fight
against captain shrederator.
- Oh!
- Whoa!
- Direct hit!
- Wow!
We did not manage to get good
hits with our weapon,
so we designed this one
so we can expose
more our a weapon
facing shallow spinners
so we have different options
for different robots
to go against.
I think every bot we came more
prepared so
black dragon is like...
You're going for the nut?
Yeah. It's a dream for us.
So good to catch up, gabriel.
I know you guys
have to get back to work,
but to be honest,
you look very prepared.
Best of luck.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Good luck, guys.
Rose: What a performance
from black dragon.
Rose: Alright, thank you, jenny.
You got to love the enthusiasm
black dragon brings to the pits.
He'll step inside the battle box
to face kraken, next.
And all roads lead
to our main event.
Furious flipper hydra
takes on last year's runner up
witch doctor
as "battlebots:
Fight night" continues.
Rose: We are back on
"battlebots: Fight night."
up next, we've got the winners
of last season's
desperado tournament,
the bad boys from brazil,
black dragon
facing off against
the clingy grappler kraken.
And let's start with kraken.
The feisty floridian matt spurk
returns for his third season
here at "battlebots."
and what is kenny florian have
in common with kraken, you ask?
It's not just his love
for dressing up like a pirate.
Kenny was something
of a grappler himself.
Florian:
I do love the puffy-shirt look,
chris, but that's right.
I have nothing but respect
for the grapple game.
The control approach
isn't the flashiest,
but matt and kraken
come prepared every year
to dirty it up
in the box in the hunt
for those valuable
control points
and they'll be squaring off
against the brazilians
and black dragon.
It was a long road to get here
this season for gabriel
and his team,
but not even a global pandemic
can hold these guys back.
Yeah, I can't say enough
about the enthusiasm
this team brings
to the battle box.
You saw them showing jenny
earlier
how prepared they are
for every fight.
They're going up against
a stellar bot in kraken.
I can't wait to
see these guys battle
should be a good match up.
Faruq sound the battle cry.
Tauheed:
In the blue square from itajubá,
brazil, its black dragon!
[ cheers and applause ]
kenny, this bot's
so impressive, a year ago,
it won the desperado, lost to
lockjaw in a round of 16
but gained a ton of fans.
And you'll notice, kenny,
they're not saying
that eggbeater,
they're going with
the double disc as the weapon.
That's right.
They're double disc
is actually their lightest
weapon configuration,
which lets them add
some extra top armor to the bot,
to protect against
kraken's jaws,
but don't let that fool you.
This bot still packs
a huge punch.
In the red square
from titusville, florida,
it's kraken!
[ cheers and applause ]
matt spurk changed the tooth
structure in the off season,
kenny, this thing
can now clamp down 12 times.
Yeah, and that's a huge
advantage for a control bot
like kraken, more clamps means
a little more room for error,
especially when trying
to get ahold of a feisty
bot like black dragon.
Here we go, let's do this.
Teles: We expect a great fight
against kraken.
I think that the fight
will depend on
who has the most control
over the three minutes,
we are trying to prove that we
can make deeper in the top 16.
We want the top 16.
We want to go back top eight,
top four,
even the giant nut this year.
Spurk: This is
the battle of the beasts.
It's black dragon versus kraken.
We've got a distinct advantage
because our very
narrow bottom jaw
can just slide right between
their two front forks.
And as soon as we get
that bottom jaw in there,
we're shoving our teeth
down through their weapon.
We've done it before
against ribbot.
We're going to do it again
with black dragon.
We're going to bite them
and drag them underwater.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
whoo! Here we go.
It's game time, fellas.
♪♪
And there's kraken's mini bot,
narwhal.
Let's see if it can avoid
being dragon food.
Remember, bite is primary.
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
let the bot battle begin!
Looks like kraken
wants to attack
black dragon head on.
Dragon almost had him here.
Oh, there we go, there we go!
He has bitten down.
This is exactly
what kraken wants to do.
Chris, kraken got this clamp
down before black dragon
can fire up its weapon.
Alright. Ready?
Flame now. Play now.
Oh, and we've got flames
inside the battle box.
Kraken releasing
that fiery breath.
And this is up close
and personal.
Black dragon, though,
has got to be careful
not to get
their internal scorched at all.
So he's really got his teeth
stuck into black dragon.
And once again, he can carry him
around the battle box
for 30 seconds.
Then it's a catch
and release program
and it's become
a power battle right now.
These guys have to be careful
to not burn out their motors.
Uh-oh!
I see a belt coming off of
black dragon, chris.
That's not good. Yeah.
Kraken jumps out
to the early lead in this fight.
Oh, my gosh, he just drove right
into the teeth of kraken again.
And kraken's tooth, that left
tooth has been bent a bit.
Yeah, remember black dragon
has the more destructive
primary weapon
between these two.
Oh, kraken almost swallowed up
its own mini bot, narwhal.
Oh, nice shot by black dragon,
who put kraken on it's dome.
Team black dragon,
says we're not done yet.
Spurk: Press the bite.
Keep biting keep biting.
Bite, bite, bite!
Oh, he's got
black dragon in the corner.
He's just going to try
and pound him into the rail,
but now black dragon
pushing back.
Well, I think kraken
needs some braces.
His teeth are a little crooked.
The black dragon has managed
to punch their way
back into this match.
But kraken has been in control
of a large stretch of this one,
will these teams
go the distance?
Very technical fight so far.
Black dragon
hasn't been displaying
the same kind of driving skills.
- Oh!
- Whoa!
Well, he took one tooth off.
Something definitely happened to
kraken's teeth.
That left tooth is a goner.
And now kraken is popped
in it's head.
Under a minute to go.
The brazilians are mounting
quite the comeback
right now, chris.
Kraken chasing after
black dragon.
Get in here, I'm hungry.
Under 30 seconds to go
and kraken cannot bite down.
He cannot clamp down
all the way on black dragon.
But he does have a solid hold
of his opponent.
There it is, there it is,
there it is!
There's is some nice shots
from the hammer.
Showing some excellent
control right now, chris.
Closing in on 10 seconds,
so this one
will go the distance.
Kraken impressive.
Black dragon nailed his opponent
a few times
as this one goes,
the full three minutes.
There it is! Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about!
That's a fight!
[ cheers and applause ]
so this one indeed
goes to the judges,
a very competent looking matt
spurk and team kraken.
We'll see if the judges
share their enthusiasm
when we come back.
Rose:
Welcome back to "battlebots,"
where we have black dragon
and kraken eagerly
awaiting a decision
after three minutes
of robot combat.
Their fate now lies
in the hands of the judges.
This year, they're scoring
on an 11 point scale.
The biggest category is damage.
You can award up to five points
for a single bot
or split the points as well.
Three points for aggression
and three for control.
We saw a very confident looking
team kraken before the break,
but you can't earn
points for that.
Kenny, kraken's game plan
ex*cuted
to perfection
in the early going.
Florian:
Yeah, no doubt about it.
There's an early clamp there
from kraken
as it bites down on black dragon
showing its power off there.
And there's the flame.
I mean, you can't get
much better of a start there.
But kenny,
as you mentioned before
the fight that grapple strategy
isn't the flashiest,
definitely not the flashiest,
which is always a danger when
you let it go to the judges.
It's no secret that kraken
had full control of the match.
But you can't forget
that damage this season
is worth more than control.
Even without their spinner
ever reaching full speed,
black dragon was able
to flip kraken
land some effective shots
and even ripped out
one of kraken's teeth.
Kraken with the toothless
grin of a hockey player
after this one.
Time to find out what
the judges saw. Here's faruq.
The results
from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
Come on, come on.
Judge derek scored
the battle for...
Kraken. Yes! Yes.
Judge lisa scored the battle
for black dragon.
Yeah!
Judge jason scored the battle
for the winner.
♪♪
Black dragon!
[ cheering ]
♪♪
[ audience boos ]
gabriel, it's chris
and kenny, are you shocked?
Oh, it was awesome fight, man
back and forth fight.
We flip them sometimes they grab
us a bunch of time of the fight.
So could gone either way.
Oh, awesome fight.
Winning the fight is awesome.
So we are happy. Very happy.
You know, when you look
at the rules this season,
a damage obviously plays a big
part in how many points you get,
particularly when you use
your primary weapon.
Do you think that's why
you got the nod from the judges?
Yeah, I think the points
were pretty close
and we go out
and they tooth out,
but they they were amazing team,
amazing match. So very good.
Gabriel, how frustrating is it
when your robot is caught
in the teeth of a kraken?
Oh, it's hard.
It's hard to be controlled.
They have a strong bite.
So it's oh,
I can't describe the emotion
is what I'm feeling right now.
Lack, lack of words for that.
Let me see that smile, gabriel.
Let me see it.
Yeah. There you go.
Congratulations to you
and black dragon
on win number one this year.
Thank you. Thank you.
Bring them on.
All right, there's a winner,
there is also a loser,
so we bring in matt spurk,
the captain of kraken.
Matt, are you shocked?
Oh, yeah, I am.
I thought we really took it
to him in that match.
That was the kind of fight
we were looking for.
Three minutes, fire, fighting,
big sparks,
and we got all of that.
But we still thought we won
and obviously
disappointed that we lost,
but not disappointed with
how kraken did that match.
We'll get her fixed up.
We'll come back out
in the next one'll be better
than ever.
Once again. How many teeth
did you bring with you?
We had the over under at 9
teeth. We lost one big one.
I'm not sure how many
of the little ones we lost.
We'll have to go back
to the pits and count them.
But we brought spares.
We'll, weld 'em on.
Like I said, we'll be back in
here ready for the next fight.
Yeah, we've got kind of
an odd new rule
in the 2020 version
of "battlebots."
with every tooth
that your bot loses,
we have to pull a tooth
out of the captain's mouth.
So you have to go see
our orthodontist
will go take care of that before
your next fight, okay buddy?
I've been needing some dental
work done so that's alright.
Matt spurk, thanks for being
such a good sport.
Thanks, guys.
It's always great to be here.
[ cheers and applause ]
alright, it's never easy
being a judge,
black dragon literally snatching
their first win of the season
out of kraken's mouth.
And if you're kraken,
you have to wonder
what more you have to do
to impress the judges
moving forward.
You hear that, kenny?
You hear that?
That's people typing
on their keyboard at home,
lighting... lighting up
the decision right there.
Hey, that's what you signed up
for when you're a judge
in "battlebots."
the internet is undefeated.
As always.
Alright. Coming up, it is
a clash, bash and crash
of the titans.
And the bigger they are,
the bigger the scars.
The big boys, mammoth and huge.
Face off, that's next.
We are back on "battlebots"
and it's time right now
to prove that size
does indeed matter.
And it is time
for mammoth versus huge.
Let's kick things off with huge
and jonathan schultz.
This is a bot that's made
an impression
in each of its first two years,
making it safely into the top 16
but not advancing any further.
As for jonathan schultz,
how big is his celebrity?
Well, he actually saw
a Halloween costume
not made of huge made
of jonathan schultz.
He said he was taken
aback by that.
But this is a team
on the rise, kenny.
No doubt about it.
And they really feel like
they're at home now
and they deserve to be here,
which is a great sign.
But, you know,
I think when we first saw it,
we were impressed, obviously,
by the size of the bot.
But this thing can do
some serious damage.
It's a brilliant design.
And here we have
the perfect match up
against another gigantic bot.
By the way, I'm going
as kenny florian
next year, Halloween.
I've already ordered my costume
to giant satellite dishes
as my ears and I'll throw a
beard on, should be fun.
Alright. Let's move on
to mammoth and ricky willems.
It's year two for this project.
And you know how,
like, you go to school
and then you come back
after the summer,
you're like god, that kid grew?
Well, the same thing
can be said for mammoth,
which has grown from six feet
tall to six foot four.
I don't know if it's going
through bot puberty
or what is happening here.
Last year was kind of
a carnival act,
like a look at the bot
with the beard.
Now it's saying, "you know what?
I'm here to stay."
when in doubt, just go bigger.
You know,
ricky is an interesting guy.
And I love his creativity
and how he really is thinking
outside the box
literally, in order to,
you know, build something
new and different.
And I just love this match up.
It's perfect.
It's going to be awesome.
Faruq, bring out the big boys.
[ cheers and applause ]
in the blue square
from baltimore, maryland.
They're incredible bulk,
mammoth!
[ cheers and applause ]
ricky willems told us this bot
can now throw refrigerators
and 25 feet away.
Did you check to make sure
your fridge
is still ok in the trailer?
Oh, my goodness.
You know, first thing I notice,
it's a little bit wider, chris.
So it looks like that bot's
going to get better stability
on the battlebots floor.
♪♪
In the red square
from south windsor, connecticut,
it's hell on wheels, it's huge!
[ cheers and applause ]
kenny, obviously,
whenever you talk about huge,
you want to mention the wheels,
but it's the spinning bar
in the middle
that will get them points
in the judges' eyes.
Yeah, that's right.
And that bar is actually
It's longer than last season.
And they now have a switch
to actually turn the bar around.
They can hit up like an uppercut
or they can hit down.
So one little switch
will change that.
That is very different
from last season.
♪♪
Willems:
Mammoth looks kind of the same,
but it is 100 percent new.
Everything is bigger,
better, stronger.
We're pretty excited.
Our front legs,
as they stick out,
they're new this year,
they are wider than huge is.
So if we funnel them in there,
we should be able
to walk them around
wherever we want in the arena,
get it ready and chuck them out.
Where we hit them,
they're going to do weird things
as they fly through the air.
I'm really excited
to see what happens.
They're finally going to get
a taste of their own medicine.
This is the biggest match up,
literally and figuratively,
that battlebots has ever seen.
Schultz: You need to look at all
the things that mammoth can hit
that no one else can.
We realized that this is
how everybody else feels
when they're going to fight us.
We're going to spin downwards
and run towards them.
And every time we hit them,
it'll push us a little deeper
into mammoth.
It's the fight of two
very different robots,
but also two robots that are
just embracing the same idea.
We'll see if bigger is better
or not.
Are you spinning down? Yep.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Blue team, ready.
Let's do this!
Come on, pip squeak!
Red team, ready.
[indistinct speech]
rose: The two biggest bots
of entire field
and only one could start the
season out with a victory.
Big time, do-see-do.
And how's that for
a self-right, for mammoth?
But it looks like
they're repertoire maybe bent.
- Whoa! And move!
- Whoa!
Wow, yeah, kenny,
these two are now intertwined.
It looks like a pair of moose
in mating season.
That huge blade is millimeters
away from mammoth's wheel
and that would be lights out
for mammoth.
Mammoth trying to politely
excuse itself from the table.
Finally they
are able to separate.
Well done, gentlemen.
Right now, it seems like
the length and size of mammoth
is kind of standing it
right now, chris.
It's amazing because mammoth,
it looks like a... whoa!
Mammoth head over heels
in the battle box.
How is that thing able
to do that?
Unbelievable acrobatics!
You don't see that out of an
athlete that's 6'4" usually.
It's crazy.
Now, the question is,
are the main weapons
doing any damage so far?
I think huge is confused
as to how to attack maybe.
Whoa. Wow.
The pulverizer coming down
to maybe try to do some damage.
Hammer! Hammer!
Those are controlled by the
teams and look at mammoth,
trying to push huge out
of the battle box.
And in fact, look at
the interesting strategy.
The pulverizer is down
on one of huge's wheels.
I don't know if he's able
to get out of there right now
because it's kind of pinned
by mammoth mammoth
cutting off the battle box
like a boxer.
Together: Whoa!
He just knocked him
out of the box!
Mammoth, are you kidding me?!
Oh, we did it!
One wheel in, one wheel out.
It's sounds kind of like
the hokey pokey, kenny,
but what it really all means is
huge is in some serious trouble.
And mammoth taking a ride
and hops in celebration.
What a shot! Mammoth had just
won this fight, chris.
Ten, nine, eight, seven...
Huge cannot free itself.
...Six, five, four, three...
Mammoth starts off 2020...
...Two, one.
...With a knock out win!
Huge is knocked out.
Winner, mammoth.
[ cheers and applause ]
what a knockout by mammoth.
Yes!
Rickey willems screaming into
the heavens in celebration,
and so he should.
What a knockout.
[ yelling ]
kenny, were you shocked with the
way that mammoth took control
of this fight from the outset?
Absolutely. I was shocked.
This fight was ridiculous,
but getting stuck up
against the battle box
and not being able to get out
of there is one of the things
that huge has been able
to avoid in previous seasons.
Mammoth showed us
a lot of things
that we have never seen before,
the battle box.
And I just I salivate
when I think about
a lot of the future match ups
for that bot.
Yeah. So ricky willems
and mammoth,
they had a game plan,
it was to basically pop a wheel
over the railing.
That's what happened.
♪♪
Okay.
Rose: Ricky is that the
design mammoth celebration?
Yeah, we planned that for weeks,
every every choreographed move.
No. Oh. Oh my god.
Why are you so out of breath?
Did you see that?
Backflips, frontflips?
Ricky, you look surprised.
From our standpoint, it looked
like a huge upset here,
no pun intended.
Did you see it
going down this way?
Oh, I mean, I thought
that that was
what was going to happen,
but I didn't think
it was going to look
that spectacular in the process.
Holy crap.
I mean, I knew we would pop up
in the air when we hit them.
I knew they'd pop up in the air.
I didn't know we'd be flipping
on top of ourselves,
flipping on top of them.
I didn't know our weapon was
going to bend in half like that.
I had no idea, apparently.
I thought I knew
I was not prepared.
Jonathan schultz and team huge,
they're no joke, man.
They're a legit team.
Knowing what you know now,
how far can you go?
Oh, top 16.
Top eight, the championship.
I don't think there's a limit.
Rose: Hey, ricky,
here's the good news.
We do have oxygen and a medic on
standby if you need it.
Are you okay?
Thank you guys. I will be.
I am more than okay.
I'm spectacular.
I could not be better.
Thank you all.
Florian:
Congratulations. We'll see you
for your next fight.
Kenny, we've been doing this
five seasons now,
I ain't never witnessed
something like that before.
That fight was ridiculous.
Godzilla versus king kong,
whatever it is
you want to compare it to.
Yeah, I was just speechless.
Alright.
Coming up, winner, winner.
Two beginners, kind of.
Its claw viper and hijinx,
their breakout bout, next.
Rose:
We are back on "battlebots:
Fight night,"
we're four fights into an action
packed fight card here tonight.
Right now, we got a pair
of brand new bots
led by familiar faces.
And let's start with claw viper,
led by kevin milczewski.
He used to drive the mini
bot for team warhawk.
Now spreading his wings,
he's got his own team
and he's bringing a ton
of confidence into the box.
He told us "this is
a top-four robot," okay.
Yeah, this guy knew
his bot inside and out.
I mean, any question we had
for him, he had the answer.
He could win this fight.
He'll be taking on team hijinx
led by jen herchenroeder.
She's spent time since 2016 with
team scorpius.
She moves from the assistant's
chair and now is the lead dog.
She said, "listen,
I got to be honest with you.
I'm a little anxious.
I'm a little nervous.
I'm a lot excited."
that's what you like to hear
out of a first-time captain.
Definitely.
But she does have a lot of
responsibility being a captain.
She said it's like juggling
And, you know,
this is definitely
an experimental bot here.
And she says, you know,
to have that first fight
and we're going to learn
a lot about our bot
and what it could do.
And by the way,
it's an announcer's nightmare.
It's herchenroeder
and milczewski
got it out of the system.
Faruq, take it away.
[ cheers and applause ]
in the blue square
from seattle, washington.
Here to reign, it's claw viper!
[ cheers and applause ]
kevin milczewski, a software
engineer from seattle,
kenny, he told us his bot can go
from 0 to 20 in a half second.
Yeah, that's really impressive,
if it's true.
I believe that would make it
the fastest accelerating
to in the history of battlebots.
Combined with that strong front
wedge and a powerful lifter,
this could be a very impressive
bot, chris.
♪♪
In the red square
from santa rosa, california,
the spinnister of offense
hijinx!
[ cheers and applause ]
jen is actually
a former art major
at the university of maryland,
and that is a good
looking bot, kenny.
It's a great looking bot
and jen's hoping
more than just looks can k*ll.
Hijinx has that devastating
sixty-eight-pound
horizontal bar,
but it takes about three seconds
to spin up to full speed.
So she'll have to drive smart
if she's going to bank her
first "w" here tonight.
[ cheers and applause ]
herchenroeder: Right now in
tonight's fight,
we've swapped from the
long-bladed stout blade
the stout blade
has no lightning holes
and performs better under load.
It also has a slightly
lower moment of inertia.
So we can spin it up faster,
which is important
because claw viper is
a very fast robot on its wheels.
Our strategy is
to fend off claw viper
while they box rush us,
'cause they're gonna,
and give ourselves
enough time to spin up to full
and then turn around
and go in full hard.
Milczewski:
So hijinx has a whole lot of
kinetic energy in their weapon.
So we've bolted like 35 pound
big hunk of steel
to the front of the robot that
we're going to throw into there
with spinner, get it to stop
so we can
bring our lifter into play
and throw him out of the arena.
It's absolutely critical for us
to get to win this fight
because we want to impress
the selection committee.
If we could beat them,
beat them convincingly,
I think it sets us up
on the right stage
to move forward
in the rest of the tournament.
Robots, activate.
Kenny claw viper can do 0 to 20
in a half second,
that's versus a three second
spin up for hijinx.
Sounds like a race
to the start here.
Absolutely. If claw viper
is as fast as kevin says,
hijinx need to avoid
the box rush
to give itself time to spin up.
Alright. Let's bring
in our bot whisperer.
Peter, how do you see it?
Abrahamson:
Well, with hijinx, they're using
their shorter blade.
That is a much faster
spin up time.
So they're definitely planning
on giving a couple of good
knocks to claw viper.
But claw viper, you know,
he's a brick.
If he stops that blade and gets
a good grab in the middle,
boom, that's up and over
in a suplex.
Blue team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
red team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
♪♪
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
let the bot battle begin!
Whoa, no joke. That claw viper
getting up to speed in a hurry.
[ audience "oh's" ] wow!
It actually crossed the battle
box in 1.1 second,
according to kevin.
Oh, man, he gets right under.
Now trying to use that claw
to its advantage.
Hijinx, kind of a sitting duck
takes one right in the kisser.
Yeah, right now, you could see
that speed is a major factor.
Major advantage here
for claw viper.
Hijinx has got to get out of
the corner,
that is a terrible spot for it.
You got to get moving,
take those little wheels,
get out of the corner.
You're going to be in trouble.
Heads up!
Big hit, and that's where
that width is really
a big-time disadvantage,
is not able to turn as quickly
as say claw viper right now.
Oh! Huge hit there.
You see the pulverize
with 100 pound hammerhead
dropping down on it lands
one right on the noggin.
And this is just tremendous
control here from claw viper.
Orion beach, the driver of
hijinx, has got to do something
like get out of the claw
of claw viper
who's found his ticket hijinx
for a spin around the box.
He's trying to make him
a dizzy, chris.
And now he's just popping that
bot around the box at will.
Oh-no, a sitting duck.
Yeah, its weapon is working,
but hijinx is not moving.
Referee: Ten, nine, eight...
Oh, no that countdown
is started.
...Seven, six, five...
This is gonna do it.
...Four, three...
Claw viper with... Two...
The impressive k.O... One.
Knockout!
Yes, yeah!
[ cheers and applause ]
alright. That's what we got.
That's what we got.
Rose: Kenny claw viper
wasn't joking when it said
it might be
the fastest bot here.
Rose: Yeah, that thing
is lightning fast,
just going underneath,
going over the top,
hitting it from the side.
Really, it was all claw viper
in this fight.
He's got a lot of toys
to play with.
It sure does.
Again, speed really was
the deciding factor in this one
and the fact that it was
so low to the ground.
Yeah, that really was
the finishing blow right there,
you see the primary weapon
of hijinx is working,
but when the bot's not moving
the fight's over.
♪♪
[ cheers and applause ]
kevin, you all smiles there
after win number one.
Oh, heck, yeah, that was great.
Lifter didn't...
Lifter got knocked out on
I think, the first hit,
because his weapon is insane,
but drive kept working
and was able to beat them up
and my robot
lasted longer than his.
So I'm walking away
with the win.
You know, you said
you probably had
the fastest spot
in the competition.
It seemed like speed really was
the key to winning this fight.
Yeah, I was trying to go out
and fast and hard to stop him
from getting
that blade up the full speed.
Just keep on him.
You know, every time we hit,
I just spun back around,
came back, hit him again.
He wanted to not let him
get up to full speed.
Kevin, what's your heart rate
right now?
I don't know, but I should
probably check a doctor
because it's going real fast.
But that's a good thing,
isn't it?
It's great. I won!
Kevin, congratulations
on win number one.
Thank you so much, chris.
Rose: And for hijinx
it's better luck next time.
That weapon's going to be scary
once they get it all dialed in.
Coming up, the kid gloves,
they come off.
Two juveniles get delinquent as
perfect phoenix
meets extinguisher. That's next.
Welcome back to "battlebots."
we've got two bots ready
to rattle,
it's a youth movement
in the battle box
as perfect phoenix makes its
debut against extinguisher,
but while they're
getting dialed in,
our own jenny taft
caught up with ricky willems
to get his take on mammoth's
giant victory over huge.
Ricky, team mammoth,
you guys wanted huge,
you got huge.
What a fight, right?
It felt like you could
have lost multiple times.
Three, in my estimation.
We had no idea how close
we came to losing.
Rose:
Mammoth gets put on its head!
There are big chunks
missing out of this robot.
Show me, please, yeah.
What are you looking at?
The first one that we saw
is just there's like
half a fist sized hole here
in this upright.
I knew they wanted to come
in here and decapitate us.
- Whoa!
- Whoa!
If this tube gets blasted
in half, we collapse.
You're done? There's no strength
if that's not a triangle. Yeah.
These tubes have to not get hit.
There's no armor here.
It's just structural strength.
What really terrified us,
jonathan, is a good driver.
He's got a lot of spinners. He
was going to go for our chain.
Yes.
Look how close he came here.
Less than an inch. Half an inch.
If it was a half an inch over,
our chain would have exploded.
We would've been dead.
No weapon which would let him
get as close as he wanted,
do whatever he wanted to do.
How you pull it off?
Oh, I mean, clearly size, right?
Exactly.
No our drive speed.
I'm just learning how to drive
this thing in the arena
with how fast it is.
And you have made so many
improvements to the speed.
Everything is different.
And we weren't even
half speed in that fight.
So we've got a long way to go
to make sure that I am
as nimble as the robot can be.
I know you guys respect
huge you respect jonathan
and what he's done.
What does it mean
to you to beat him?
Jonathan, and huge they are the
original metabreakers, right?
They are the team that came in
and shook everything up
by doing something completely
outside of the box.
We wanted to do that again,
turned up to 11.
This just validates
that we did what we came for.
If we want to prove ourselves.
We need to come back
and we need to take out serious,
normal competitors,
vertical spinners,
horizontal spinners.
I want to take out
half the top a6.
If we can do that,
we have established ourselves.
We're here, we're enormous,
but we're serious.
Just realized I'm literally
standing...
Under the robot.
This is not
the right place to be.
Titanium tootsies worrisome.
Congrats, guys.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
Rose:
So it came down to mere inches
in a fight between giants,
great stuff, jenny. Alright.
Coming up, perfect phoenix
and extinguisher
prepare to make their way
into the box.
But as they power their pistons,
let's take a look
at tonight's epic main event,
its hydra and witch doctor.
It's witch doctor!
Yeah.
The other seasons,
we were kind of an up and comer
who had some potential.
Rose: Oh, no!
Red devil trying to
cut into the top of witch doctor
here.
Looks like witch doctor's going
to make it the distance.
Advancing to the final...
Witch doctor!
Gellatly:
But now, after our amazing
run last season,
witch doctor has a gigantic
target on its back.
Florian: Witch doctor
on fire right now.
Gellatly: Love us or hate us,
I think we've earned respect
as a top competitor
here this year.
Witch doctor is well overrated.
- Whoa!
- Hydra!
I mean, proven yourself one year
when you don't do
that great every other year?
Rose: Unbelievable.
It seems like a fluke.
You built an amazing robot,
very impressive run.
Next year should be better.
Ewert:
This year, hydra is going to be
more powerful than last year.
We have a new front end,
so hopefully nobody
can get underneath us.
And it's got twice as much power
as it had last year.
Florian: Oh, there's no mercy
from hydra!
I'm hoping to wreck
the battle box floor
with the bot landing on it.
Rose: Uh-oh,
here comes witch doctor.
Together: Oh!
Rose:
It just flew up 15 feet
up into the air.
We don't have enough armor
to really take a big attack,
but for a flipper,
the easiest way to do anything
is just to get them
out of the arena.
Then you win automatically.
- Oh!
- Oh!
Witch doctor could survive
a million flips.
But it can't fall
out of the arena.
Rose: And it just broke
the clock monitor!
This match against hydra's
is going to set the tone
for the whole tournament.
- Oh!
- Another huge hit!
It seems like it should be
a slam dunk for me.
Florian:
Hydra just might be the most
powerful flipper of the game.
We win this match,
we're definitely primed
to be that top seed.
That's going to be critical
to winning the giant nut.
Rose: Hits are devastating.
This is the match that we
have to prove everything.
- And there's the flip.
- If we can go at it,
people are going to be
shaking in their boots.
Because they have to go
matched up against hydra.
We are back on "battlebots:
Fight night" and kenny florian,
and I cannot wait
for this next bout
because here is
where dreams come true.
We've got tyler nguyen.
He is the captain
of the bot perfect phoenix.
He says he's been dreaming
of this moment
ever since he was
five years old.
He waited for years and years
to finally safely arrive
inside the battle box.
Did I mention that tyler
is 11 years old?
He has been mensa
since the age of four.
It is nothing
short of remarkable.
I mean, the kid
has been driving,
bots since he was five
and he has a world champion.
In ray billings in his corner.
Talk about the right stuff.
Truth be told, tyler's mom,
juli johnson,
has been dating ray billings
for several years.
And so tyler was always
infatuated with "battlebots."
and ray, as you said,
has been a mentor.
He told us he might be
the smartest person
in the entire building,
like no joke, iq of 156
and off the charts.
We can't wait to see him.
Now, by comparison,
his opponent tonight
should be checking the mail
for his aarp card.
John flaacke is an 18 year
old freshman
at the university of florida.
His body is called extinguisher.
That's right.
Now, we saw him last season.
Struggled a little bit
with his robot, of course,
but he believes he's rectified
a lot of the issues.
That hammer is going to be
swinging much harder.
It's a 20-pound hammer.
It's going to be more durable,
more reliable.
So I can't wait to see
what kind of bought
he brought this season.
Should be a ton of fun to watch.
Faruq, show us how it's done.
In the blue square
from herndon, virginia,
the baby faced thriller,
perfect phoenix!
[ cheers and applause ]
there he is on the right,
about to make his dream
of competing here
at battlebots come true. Kenny,
and I'm not so sure I could even
even spell battlebots
when I was his age,
let alone build one.
Spelling can be tough, chris,
but this kid
is truly impressive.
He's actually been gifted
the base of his bot
three-time world champion
paul ventimiglia
and hopes to use his aggressive
driving style to drive
that newly upgraded ar500
blade right into extinguisher.
And there with him
is his buddy sawyer,
whose dad, roy,
is a member of team tombstone.
In the red square
from tampa, florida.
I need this bot because
I'm on fire...
It's extinguisher!
[ cheers and applause ]
john flaacke went 1-3
in his debut season
a year ago, already this bot
looks better, kenny.
Much better, chris, the flaackes
made a ton of upgrades
to the bot in the off season,
including ramping up
its top speed to an impressive
And the bot also has
a new 20-pound hammer
that john hopes
can disable the primary weapon
of perfect phoenix.
Nguyen: Well, tonight,
I'm battling extinguisher,
and I'm pretty nervous
since my first fight,
but it should be a pretty good
even match up for both of us.
I'm using the default the,
uh, floppy,
lower wedge configuration
as opposed to the hard
anti-spinner wedge
configuration.
So I'm on
I'm still only like 11,
but I'm ready to be...
But I'm ready to smash up
the competition
and try to go all the way
to the finals.
Flaacke: Perfect phoenix
doesn't have a lot of top armor
under their spinning bar,
so we're using our hammer module
along with our heaviest wedge
so that we can box rush
them off the start.
Our drive train is capped at
about 35 miles an hour.
So we're just going to use
that drive speed
and torque to stay right on them
and not let them get away
from us to spin up at all.
[ cheers and applause ]
okay, alright.
I'm excited. Let's do this.
Alright.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
rose: Here we go.
Anybody else feeling old?
Blue team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
man: Alright. There you go.
Red team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
rose: Let the bot battle begin!
Here comes extinguisher.
Whoa big shot early on.
Yeah, that is a very speedy
bot and extinguisher...
And I think extinguisher may be
extinguished at this point.
Holy smokes. Perfect phoenix is
just sitting back
and wondering
if extinguisher can even move.
His weapon is working,
but he has lost his drive train
ability.
Here we can't lose, come on.
Rose: He's trying to do
whatever he can to show
some sort of
transitional movement.
Referee:
I need to see some movement.
You got to show me
you got some kind of control.
We're trying to move.
Ten, nine...
Yeah, the countdown has started.
...Eight, seven, six...
Extinguisher cannot move.
...Five, four...
And just like that,
first battlebots victory.
Yeah!
♪♪
Well, first fight,
first victory,
dreams do come true
for tyler nguyen.
Kenny, do not blink,
this one was a quick one.
Florian:
Yeah, tyler went out there and
kind of played the bullfighter,
just got out of the way,
extinguisher rammed
into the side of the box.
And then it was
that counter shot one
and done for perfect phoenix.
And it was a perfect knockout.
All it takes is one
solid knock and it is over.
Wow.
Rose: Tyler nguyen, over here.
No, your left there.
No, to your right, turn right
there. Right there. Yes!
Double thumbs up, buddy.
How excited are you?
I'm very excited
for that battle.
I won. I mean. I mean, like,
I was going to be
I was I thought
I was going to be I mean,
like, I was like,
really, like, surprise at,
like, the power of my weapon.
They're like beating them
in one hit.
What was your strategy coming
into this fight tyler?
Well, my strategy...
I knew they would box rush me
because I'm a horizontal spinner
and, like, I thought
they would do like
in season 1 bite force
versus tombstone
is where they like straight
to boxers me.
So I left the square at an angle
and they did just what
I thought they would do.
So then what happened
is I turned around and hit them
and looks like
that hit was big enough
so that their bot turned off
and cut out and that was it.
Did we keep you up
past your bedtime?
Are you still good to go?
I'm good to go. I go to bed
at a reasonable hour every night
because I have to do
online school.
Tyler, you are. You are amazing.
Congratulations to you
and sawyer.
Rest up because you've got
ap chemistry
in the morning and precalc.
So enjoy that
and we will talk to you soon.
You're 1-0, buddy,
that sounds pretty good.
Give it a thumbs up. Celebrate.
Celebrate!
Yeah!
[ laughter ]
that was nothing short
of sensational, no joke.
Ray billings told us this kid
is a good enough driver
and obviously he's smart enough
where he could win
the giant nut in two years.
He might be selling himself
short on something like that.
Again, it was a spectacular win.
Obviously shows
a lot of promise.
I can't wait to see more.
Alright.
Coming up, it's the fight
we've been waiting for.
It's the main event
as witch doctor
looks to cast her
destructive spell on hydra,
one of the most
dangerous bots here, jenny taft.
How are our builders
doing back in the pits?
Witch doctor is well aware
that there's a target
on their back,
given the runner up
finish last year,
and andrea told me they didn't
want to make a lot of changes
to the bot because the bot
is already functioning well.
But she did make the self
brighter faster,
which doctor's prepared to win.
They want to win, and even
though their team is smaller,
they're not going to let
that get in the way.
And as for jake and hydra,
he made it very clear
he is here to win the nut.
And frankly, he said
witch doctor is a bit overrated.
We'll see about that.
Rose: Hydra, witch doctor, next.
Rose: Here we go.
This is my first fight, I,
I just knocked out extinguisher.
Whoa, big shot early on.
I think I got a good hit.
The wheel axles, we're kind of
like bent out of shape,
but other than that damage,
the shock from the impact
you might have like gone
into the other robot,
hit a critical component
like the speed controller
or a battery.
And that was lights out.
- That's a knockout!
- Yeah!
I'm feeling quite confident.
I have no damage whatsoever
to the battle bot.
It came out of the arena
like it came into the arena.
You good? I'm excited.
Let's do this. Alright.
Ray was like
standing right here,
like right here and right then.
And he's like, kind of, like,
mentored, like, me
through this battlebots process.
And it's like, help me like
starting the battle.
Fighting the battle.
Finishing the battle.
Rose: And just like that,
has his first battlebots
victory!
We are back on "battlebots:
Fight night" and kenny florian,
it is time right now
for our main event
and oh, it is so tasty.
Let's start with last year's
runner up witch doctor
andrea and mike gellatly.
Lately they are back
and they said,
"listen, we're not going
to make the same mistake
that other past runners up like
bombshell and minotaur did.
We're not going to totally
change our weapons
and our configuration
and everything else
just to make that next leap."
they're like, "we've got a great
bot. We should be okay."
florian:
Witch doctor, it was pretty
unstoppable last season.
They just fell short
in that final.
But they have made just
a few tweaks to witch doctor.
I mean, it's even
better this season.
Nice draw right out of the gate.
You get hydra, which was
so impressive a year ago,
making its "battlebots" debut.
Jake ewert told us, listen,
the loss last year
in the round of 16 to minotaur
is still with him to this point.
It is going to drive him
hopefully all the way
to the giant nut.
Yeah, he has redesigned
the whole front end
he has many more configurations
as far as armor goes.
And it's even more powerful
as a flipper
than it was last season,
which is hard to imagine.
You ready to check this fight
out it's gonna be a good one.
One faruq, take it away.
In the blue square,
he's launched bots all over
from london to boston,
get too close
and he'll stun you
like stone cold steve austin
and that's the bottom line
because hydra said so.
It's hydra!
[ cheers and applause ]
hydra 4-0 a year ago, before
being k.O.D by minotaur,
just 42 seconds
in the round of 16.
And kenny, he's got now
five different configurations
for his weapon
based on his opponent.
I mean, look at that thing.
That thing is very intimidating.
And it's not just all looks.
That thing is devastating
as well.
♪♪
In the red square,
fire burn and cauldron bubble
witch doctor's here,
and you're in trouble
'cause when you meet
this doctor eye to eye
life's a witch and then you die.
It's witch doctor!
[ cheers and applause ]
what a great 2019
for this crew, 7-1 overall.
That lone loss in the final
against bite force,
they still got
that voodoo working.
We'll see if they've got
the good mojo as well.
Absolutely. They say they have a
better self-righting mechanism
this season.
They are ready to go.
♪♪
♪♪
Two great drivers
to aggressive teams,
it should be an amazing
main event, pete.
All four of hydra's victories
came via the knockout.
So would it be safe to say that
witch doctor wants a longer,
more drawn out fight?
Yes, but it's going to be
tough for hydra
because witch doctor
is a very stout bot.
They've really got the ability
to sort of
probably survive
some of these flying in the air,
landing hard on corners
so they might outlast hydra
and then at least start
chewing on the top.
Well, it's time to find out
who's best in the early part
of the 2020 season.
Hello, there, mikey boy.
You ready for this?
- Yeah, are you?
- You better be.
Alright. Hope you brought
extra frames, bud.
Robots, activate.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Blue team, ready.
Red team, ready.
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Rose: We are ready
for the main event.
I hope you are, too.
Hydra...
And witch doctor.
[ audience chanting "fight" ]
let the bot battle begin!
Whoa! Holy smokes, witch doctor
goes 15 feet in the air
courtesy of hydra. Florian: Wow!
And again.
Mike gellatly, one of the best
drivers in "battlebots"
has got to get out of the corner
he's taking shots to the
pulverizer.
And he pops himself to get
himself free.
Way to go, way to go.
You got his arm.
Florian:
Witch doctor's going to have to
battle back here
hydra starting off
amazingly well.
And the key for witch doctor
getting free of hydra.
And you do some damage
just like that.
That was the shot witch doctor
wanted.
Uh-oh. Witch doctor's a bit
troubled though.
That's okay. That's okay.
Oh, no, it's having problems
staying on track here.
- Oh.
- Whoa!
Another huge flip
and witch doctor lands on hydra.
And another. And another!
And another baby flip.
That self-righting mechanism
for witch doctor is working,
so that's a good sign.
Hydra, does it have
enough oomph in its lifter
and its flipper, to do more
damage to witch doctor?
Yes! This is not a good sign
because they're wobbling,
they cannot stay low
to the floor,
hydra is just dominating
right now.
And this is even worse
news for witch doctor.
It is smoking.
It is overheating 100
seconds into this fight.
Oh!
Witch doctor gets put on
its head ut still rights itself!
This has the makings
of an instant classic.
Man: Get in there!
Uh-oh, witch doctor already got
hit after hit from hydra,
but look at this.
Oh, my goodness.
Showing such heart!
Oh, no witch doctor's
up on the screws!
Can it free itself?
Hydra's coiled
and ready to strike.
And there we go, witch doctor's
spit out by the screws.
It's not over till it's over.
It's not over till it's over.
Unbelievable.
Florian: There's been a lot of
knock out shots here from hydra.
I mean, how about the chin
from witch doctor, huh?
But, kenny hydra now suddenly
seems to be
having trouble moving.
I mean, jake ewert's bot
is just crab walking in
the blue square there.
This would be a disaster
for team hydra.
Referee:
Hydra, I need to see some real
controlled movement here.
I'm gonna have to count you out.
I'm not sure if they're hung up
or they hurt.
We're getting out of there.
Witch doctor, still leaking
smoke from every crevice,
but very much mobile.
It's still alive.
Oh, my goodness, this would be
absolutely heartbreaking
for hydra,
he's dead, he's dead.
Count him down!
Ten, nine, eight...
Rose: Oh, no he's moving.
He just went forward. And the
countdown is now stopped.
Hydra with new life and
witch doctor back on the attack.
Is hydra going to make it
the distance he is indeed!
And when the smoke settles,
these two have gone
the distance.
An amazing fight between hydra
and witch doctor,
as this one goes to the judges.
Whew.
Holy crap.
Well, that went
about how I expected it.
Rose:
A tough call for derek young,
lisa winter, and jason bardis,
they will have
tremendous insight
because they are all former
battlebots participants.
I got to tell you, kenny,
from the get go,
hydra did exactly
what it wanted.
This is what happens
when you get
two legendary teams involved.
It was hydra landing
what would have knocked out
many teams
out of the competition.
I mean, look at the flips
and how robust is witch doctor
to take all that damage?
Unreal. And then witch doctor
delivered a major shot
of its own.
A major shot is right,
but it comes at a cost.
You could see that belt
break loose
from witch doctor's
primary weapon
and the bot just never looked
right after that,
witch doctor started wobbling
and smoking limping in the box.
The flips they just kept
on coming from hydra.
Witch doctor even got caught
momentarily in the screws,
as well.
And then this is
where things got interesting.
Hydra apparently got caught
on something in the blue square.
It had trouble moving.
There was actually a ten second
countdown that started happening
and then all of a sudden hydra
started moving yet again,
kenny. Yeah, that's right.
I think I could tell
if it was a motor issue.
I mean, clearly there was
something going on
because it's so low
to the ground.
And that's kind of the nature
of what you want in a flipper.
It was also getting stuck
in the battle box as well.
What a tough,
tough call for the judges.
[ cheers and applause ]
the results
from the judges are in.
[ cheers and applause ]
we have a split decision.
Judge lisa scored
the battle for hydra.
[ cheers and applause ]
judge jason scored
the battle for witch doctor.
[ cheers and applause ]
judge derek scored
the battle for the winner.
Hydra!
Yes! Let's do this! Yeah!
♪♪
♪♪
Now, the camera's in my face...
Look at these two guys.
These two guys.
Hi, jake ewert, congratulations.
What's up? You guys knew I'd be
back here, right?
We did.
Were you nervous when you
heard there is a split decision?
Of course. I mean, it was
battle. It was back and forth.
I mean, I got enough flips
in hopefully to have the battle.
But, I mean, they were smoking.
So hopefully that was enough
to make the split decision.
Jake, there was a lot
that happened in that fight.
So please do your best at taking
taking us through this fight.
The worst part was I knew
they were going to be
dangerous upside down,
worse than when they were up
right side up, because when
they flip upside down,
they're going to hit me
on the top
and do more damage and whatnot.
But my front end worked
most of the time.
So, I mean,
I could get underneath.
I should have been a little
more trigger happy, I think.
And flip earlier that way,
the weapon didn't get
too close to me,
but they took some good chunks
out of me
and we were just going to have
to get it ready for next night.
So, jake, when you are "caught"
and you could not move
and the referee starts
to count you out
after you had been so dominant
throughout the fight,
what goes through your mind?
What goes through my mind?
I knew exactly
what was happening.
My speed controllers
were overheating.
All I had to do is wait,
let them cool down,
and then I could start
moving again at that second.
And just to show movement
is all you needed to do
to get that jump decision,
I would guess.
Alright. So finally,
what happens if you walk back
into that ewert household
in the great state of wisconsin
and you're not
holding the giant nut?
Yeah, if I don't win
that giant nut I'm going
to get slack for the next year
until we come back again.
So it better be not a bust.
Yeah, well, congratulations,
team hydra.
You are off to an amazing start,
a job well done
against a very worthy foe.
Thanks, guys.
[ cheers and applause ]
you always do good work,
too, I guess.
[ laughs ]
[ cheers and applause continue ]
andrea, you are
wearing that mask,
I can't tell
if you're smiling at all
because that fight
was unbelievable.
Is there any satisfaction,
even though there was a loss?
I mean, how can you not be
smiling after a match like that?
We had a great season last year,
so they threw us
to the big dogs right away.
We knew what witch doctor
had to be 100%.
Obviously, hydra was 100%.
They drove an incredible fight.
And this stuff happens.
I think it was a 50/50.
Either way,
hopefully we get a rematch
once the robot is back together.
For my money. That was one of
the best fights
in battlebots history.
Mike, your driving
was on full display there.
Were you nervous
when he got flipped up
in the air to start that fight?
Yeah, of course. I mean,
thank you for the kind words,
but I think
I drove pretty poorly
and I think it showed there.
Jake took full advantage of,
you know, after that first flip,
jake was on us the whole time
and really didn't
let us recover.
I think one of the disc's broke
after the first or second flip.
And, you know, the weapon really
had to be 100 percent for us
to be able to take on hydra.
I don't know a whole lot
of drivers
that would have been able
to come back from that,
though, man, defensively you
showed some excellent driving.
What does this say
about your bot, though?
I mean,
it's tremendously durable.
Yeah, and, you know,
witch doctor's kind of known
for having a little bit
of a rough start.
We always pull it together this
season going to be no different.
So it's just because
we didn't win our first fight,
don't count us out yet.
Andrea and mike gellatly
and team witch doctor.
I know it didn't go the way that
you wanted, here on night one,
but it was awfully entertaining.
Thanks for the thrills.
Thank you.
Rose: Alright, kenny, after
watching that display of power,
is hydra the bot
to beat this season?
Man alison, based on what we saw
last season in hydra
and based on
what we saw tonight,
hydra has to be one of
the favorites right now.
No question.
Remember, they went
undefeated in the regular season
before bowing out
in the round of 16 a season ago.
That is a story to watch
throughout the night.
So that's going to do it for us,
for jenny taft and faruq
and our bot whisperer peter,
and my man, kenny florian,
I'm chris rose.
We'll see you next time
on "battlebots."
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05x02 - Let The Big Bot Battle Begin
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Show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament.
Show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament.