[robotic voice] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] hi, everybody,
and welcome to battlebots,
where a robot's main function
is total destruction.
I'm chris rose,
joined by ufc legend and fight analyst.
A guy so tough,
his middle name is "t*rture".
It's kenny florian.
Chris, we've been through this.
It's alan.
Whatever.
"t*rture" sounds way cooler than "alan",
dude.
Anyway, this is our fifth
year doing battlebots together,
and I've got to say this.
So far,
this has been the most exciting,
unpredictable and
savage season ever.
Just when you thought
you'd seen everything,
this box delivers even
more jaw dropping
bot breaking moments.
[kenny] and tonight
will be no different,
as we reach the middle
of the qualified rounds,
impressing the
selection committee
is what it's all about.
And this fight card features
[chris] we've got
malice and madcatter.
A couple of surprise
teams sitting at two and o.
You have to imagine,
whoever wins this matchup
will punch their ticket
to this year's tournament.
And on the other
end of the spectrum,
fan favorite edward robinson
will pin his work of art sharko
against 14 year old rookie
bryce yankauskas and slap box.
Both sitting at o and one,
they will be fighting
for their battlebots'
lives tonight.
And it all leads up to a
momentous main event
between a couple of
bots built by mit alums.
It's sawblaze
taking on uppercut.
That's right. This one
is really interesting,
because uppercut's
captain alex hattori
actually used to be on
jamison go's team sawblaze.
Each are coming off
huge one and o starts,
but do we see the pupil
become the master tonight, chris?
This one could be expl*sive.
[chris] and for more on this clash
between the kids from cambridge,
let's head down to the third
member of our team, jenny taft.
There's a lot on the line when
it comes to mit bragging rights
between alex from uppercut
and jamison from sawblaze.
But really,
that's not how they like view this thing.
They're like family. There's
so much history here.
Alex was mentored by jamison.
So much so that jamieson told me
he's almost like alex's battle bot's dad.
Alex told me he got his
rookie mistakes out of the way.
He's here to compete.
But either way,
these two, whoever wins,
it's going to be hard on the other.
[kenny] thanks very much, jenny.
[chris] both teams look like they're
cramming for their final exam down there.
Hope they know we
don't grade on a curve.
But boy, oh boy, do we have a
treat for you to kick things off tonight.
It's a clash between two of the hardest
hitting horizontal spinners on the planet.
Leanne cushing and valkyrie
take on victor soto and rotator,
and both teams are
planning for an all-out slugfest.
Victor soto has
established rotator
as one of the most
lethal bots in the business.
That was unbelievable!
But after a controversial
split decision...
Our winner... Beta!
[chris] ...And only a few
fights left in the qualifiers...
Tonight is a must win match up.
Valkyrie's one and o...
[people] oh!
[chris] but after having
weapons issues in their first fight...
Valkyrie's weapon
has stopped moving.
...Captain leanne cushing
still has everything to prove.
Tantrum is knocked out!
I'm pretty confident
this season.
[chris] and against an
elite driver like victor soto,
that means there's no margin...
What a shot!
...For error.
It's the heaviest
weapon that we've had.
Spinning at
approximately 2500 rpm.
Our weapons are made
of the same material.
When you have hard versus hard,
sparks are gonna fly.
They were gonna
cause some damage.
[audience cheering]
buckle up for safety.
Are you ready?
I'm very ready.
Faruq, let's do this.
[all cheering]
ladies and gentlemen,
it's robot fighting time.
[cheering continues]
yeah!
Whoo!
Whoo!
In the blue square...
This bot got her name
from norse mythology,
and she'll mess up your
head like a forced lobotomy.
I've never studied that stuff,
but this bot is pretty lethal,
so I'll just assume she's
the goddess of k*lling people.
It's valkyrie.
[crowd cheers]
[chris] kenny,
the blade is using tonight is named glory.
What are they
hoping to do with it?
[kenny] yeah,
their 65 pound blade there
has an extra tooth compared
to rotator's bar spinner.
They're hoping when
the two bots collide
glory's teeth hit at a different
interval and get in some deeper shots.
[chris] leanne cushing told us she so
badly wants to reach the round of 16.
If she takes down a bot like rotator,
that could go a long way.
[kenny] and chris,
they've got the bot and driver to do that.
Frederick moore
there in the middle,
is one of the best
drivers in the business.
[faruq] in the red square...
This bot's got more designs
than roles johnny depp lands.
Has more blades than
edward scissorhands.
Like captain jack sparrow,
it will sink your ship.
Except in this world,
it's your bot that will flip.
I think we just found out
what's eating gilbert grape.
Just like the legend
of sleepy hollow,
this bot will decapitate.
It's rotator.
[audience cheers]
[chris] well, kenny, sounds like
victor soto is preparing for w*r.
Tell us about their
armor configuration.
[kenny] well,
they've added a big wedge
to the back end of rotator,
and that thing is all armor.
Victor's going to
use that as a shield,
and I think he might try
to outlast valkyrie here.
[chris] and with that
singular blade on the bottom,
it's up from 40 to
so it could dish out
even more punishment.
[kenny] either way,
this should be a slugfest.
And there's a good shot of that
wedge I was talking about, chris.
Tonight we're fighting valkyrie,
and I'm going with a
defensive configuration
similar to what I used against
icewave and tombstone.
Instead of having a high blade,
I'm gonna go with a
low blade this time.
So it'll be under cutter
versus under cutter.
Valkyrie is a very
hard hitting robot.
They use a very powerful motor.
It's gonna be hard
to stop their blade.
And we're aiming for the wheels.
We shouldn't need too much
weapon power to chop up some wheels.
He's won the most
destructive award.
So, yeah.
It's either gonna go really great for us,
or really poorly.
Victor has a lot more experience
in combat robot than us,
so we're kind of a
little bit jittery there.
But like,
when we went to do weigh in,
he was like 17
pounds overweight.
And so that means
he was trying to put in
as much extra protection
against us as possible,
which means he's scared,
a little bit at least.
I don't want to
be overconfident,
but like,
I think that's a very good sign.
[robotic voice] robots activate.
[loud cheering]
[chris] so let's bring in
our bot whisperer peter.
Pete, these bots...
Very similar in terms of what
they've chosen for a weapon here.
What do you expect to see?
[peter] when
rotator spins around
and goes weapon to
weapon in the contact,
there is going to
be a lot of sparks,
and most likely,
somebody's weapon is going to break.
The wedge that rotator
chose is probably his best bet
to help get valkyrie up
and over at the top of it.
[chris] I like that.
Sparks and weapons
coming off. Sign me up.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chants] fight,
fight, fight, fight,
fight, fight, fight, fight,
fight, fight, fight, fight,
fight, fight, fight, fight,
fight, fight, fight, fight,
fight, fight, fight, fight,
fight, fight, fight, fight...
[kenny] let the
bot battle begin.
[chris] rotator starting
out to wedge forward here.
There's the spark
pete was talking about.
Victor soto keeping that big
wedge pointed towards valkyrie.
Oh! And now pops leanne
cushing's bot up onto its heels!
[kenny] rotator waiting to battle
for low ground here early, chris.
[chris] oh! Valkyrie knocks
rotator into the side of the box.
Uh-oh! Oh, valkyrie goes over
the top and there's some shrapnel.
Wow!
[kenny] and the pulvarizer
just misses valkyrie.
Rotator is committed to
feeding valkyrie that wedge.
[chris] oh, valerie's sent a little
off kilter, but recovers nicely.
[kenny] both beings
refusing to back down.
[chris] oh! Rotator launches
valkyrie now keeping the pressure on.
[kenny] the driver for valkyrie,
frederick moore,
doing his best to
keep it centered.
And wow! Takes another
big shot from rotator. Oh!
[chris] rotator trying to
take valkyrie into the screws.
[kenny] victor soto with some
masterful driving here, chris.
He's leading with that wedge,
but then swinging
rotator's blade around
to catch valkyrie and score
points with his weapon.
[chris] and how about the durability
of these two bots trading shots,
oh,
like a couple of heavyweight prizefighters.
And now,
valkyrie propped on its heels once again.
[kenny] the momentum on that blade
just keeping valkyrie suspended in air.
[chris] unreal!
Look at the sparks.
Are we sh**ting this thing
on July 4th? This is awesome.
[kenny] leanne cushing
continuing to attack.
[chris] valkyrie now starting to
do some damage to that wedge,
and looks like there's some
damage to the tire of rotator as well.
[kenny] unbelievable! The
sparks that are flying in this one!
Closing in on a minute, fifteen.
[chris] this is some amazing
flagging from both teams.
Wow.
Valkyrie making a push now.
Showing no signs of
the durability issues
that have plagued
him in the past.
That blade is
still going strong.
[kenny] some of these
shots have just been insane.
Oh! There's a piece of
armor from rotator now.
Beautiful! That was
a beautiful hook!
[chris] I mean,
how long can these two robots keep this up?
[kenny] the tide is turning
a little bit here, chris.
It looks like valkyrie's
trying to get the rotator...
[chris] oh! Valkyrie
can smell some blood!
Going at it with rotator.
[kenny] oh,
there's another big shot from valkyrie.
[chris] rotator
stumbling around.
Closing in on the
Do both these bots have enough
strength to make the distance?
[kenny] valkyrie is really finishing
strong... And how about that!
Pieces of rotator all
over the battle box.
[chris] valkyrie ripped
rotator's wedge off of its chassis.
Are you kidding me?
But somehow,
rotator is still moving.
[kenny] it's stumbling though,
chris.
It's moving, but it's stumbling.
Both these bots, somehow
they're going to make it the distance
in an unbelievable
epic battlebot fight.
Up on your feet and
home if you aren't already.
[cheering]
that was unbelievable!
[kenny] what a fight.
We did it!
[chris] look at that.
Stuck along side-to-side
of the battle box.
That was sick. [chuckles]
[all cheering]
[laughs] oh!
[chris] so now this
one goes to the judges.
Derek young,
lisa winter and jason bardis.
Can we look inside?
- Can we...
- Make that quick, quick, quick.
[chris] and you don't
see this very often
that three judges have requested
to go inside the battle box
to inspect the amount of damage
that's been done to each robot.
[kenny] yeah,
that obviously indicates
they believe this
was a very close fight.
They're going to make
sure they get this one right.
And you know,
victor soto has to appreciate this,
having just lost a
close decision to beta.
[chris] well,
we're gonna let the judges continue
to assess the carnage,
and we will have the decision
to this absolutely epic showdown
when we return on battlebots.
[chris] welcome
back to battlebots,
where valkyrie and rotator
are awaiting the judges' decision
in what can only be
described as an instant classic.
The teams are being
scored on an 11 point scale.
Five points could be
awarded for damage,
three apiece for
control and aggression.
And early on, kenny,
rotator was scoring points
in all three of
those categories.
[kenny] yeah,
rotator got off to a brilliant start.
Clearly, the right call to go with
that big rear wedge for this matchup.
Victor was able to get
underneath valkyrie,
bully it around the box,
and really put leanne's
weapon to the test.
[chris] it was hard to track
the number of giant blows
these two bots traded
under the roar of the crowd.
But both weapons
just did not stop.
[kenny] yeah, we're used to
seeing rotator be indestructible
and valkyrie has had
durability issues in the past,
but no sign of those tonight,
as it was able to
absorb huge shots
and dish out
punishment of its own.
[chris] and with about 30
seconds remaining in the fight,
valkyrie able to
rip that rear wedge
clean off of rotator.
It was impressive.
[kenny] it'll be tough to
see either of these teams
take a loss after
this amazing fight.
But valkyrie clearly winning the
damage category with that shot.
[chris] well,
let's see if the judges agree.
The results from
the judges are in.
[all cheering]
and the winner by
unanimous decision is...
[imitating fanfare]
valkyrie!
[all cheering]
leanne,
hate to break up the party.
Uh,
how good does it feel to be a part
of one of the greatest fights
in the history of battlebots?
Oh, my god! It's...
I am so amazed that
we just kept going.
I love that our
robot doesn't die.
Yeah,
I'm grateful. Fred did amazing driving.
We just kept going. Our new
weapon worked incredibly well.
Like... Feels good.
Feels really good.
It seemed like rotator got the
better of you guys early in the fight.
It seemed like fred, you made some
excellent adjustments during that fight.
What were those adjustments?
I mean, one of the biggest things
that we always try to do with valkyrie,
on our other fights is get a
big hit right up front, right early.
Normally,
that's enough to turn 'em off.
But victor,
he's a very good build there.
He's been doing this forever.
And he knew that's exactly
what he wanted me to do.
He was going to take
those hits on his wedge.
And so, after that,
get him out into the middle.
Get him baked out on the side,
go for the wheels, try to hit his weapon,
because we really
want to break that.
I didn't think we were going
to get through his wedge,
- but I'm mighty happy that we did.
- [leanne laughs]
[leanne] yeah,
like a lot of chunk.
And I'm surprised
we actually ate it.
Leeann,
before the season started,
you told us how
important it was for you
to crack the top 16 this year.
When you look at this sort of
performance from your robot,
do you have bigger dreams now?
No, don't jinx anything.
[all laugh]
I'm glad we're two
and o. It's awesome.
We'll see how we keep going.
We'll see who we get next.
Congratulations,
leanne cushing and team valkyrie.
A job well done.
Thanks for the entertainment.
[chuckles] thanks. Yeah!
Oh, my god!
Whoo!
Victor soto after
a fight like that,
how tough is it when you hear
that sort of judge's decision?
I'm not too surprised by the decision,
to be honest.
Why?
Uh, due to the new damage system,
or the new point system
where damage is highest.
They obviously did a
lot more damage to us.
At the end,
both our weapons weren't working.
And drive were still working,
but we were missing half our bot.
Is there anything you'd like to
say to the selection committee,
just based on that
performance alone?
Uh, yeah. We're tough as
nails. We're going to fix it up,
come right back
and get big matches.
Don't lose sight of us yet.
[chris] very good,
victor soto and team rotator.
An amazing, amazing fight.
I know it didn't end
up the way you wanted,
but still,
congratulations on an amazing performance
thank you.
[chris] whoo wee! What amazing
way to get the evening started, huh?
I got to slow my
heart rate down.
Uh, what a fight.
I mean,
that's an absolute classic.
I mean,
neither team is really a loser.
I know that rotator...
You know, you get a number
under the "l" category here,
but so impressive by both bots.
Maybe a bias,
but just moving forward,
no matter what happens with these teams,
put 'em in the top 32.
That was just ridiculous.
[chris] all right. Well, kenny,
I certainly hope you got
that heart rate under control,
because our next two bots
are ready to throw down.
We've got gigabyte squaring
off against extinguisher.
It's the unpredictable
kinetic energy
of john mladenik's
full body spinner
against a hopeful university of
florida freshman john flaacke.
Both teams still looking
for that elusive first "w".
Let's head on over to faruq.
In the blue square,
from oceanside, california,
ready to turn you
into surf and turf...
It's gigabyte!
[people cheering]
[chris] well, that flame design
on gigabyte is new for this season.
So, kenny, how did they catch
fire tonight against extinguisher?
[kenny] well,
they got trapped in the corner
in their first fight and
got their shell knocked up.
Got to stay in the center tonight,
chris.
It always works better
when your head stays on.
They got to keep the head on.
[chris] huh. Details.
In red square from tampa bay,
florida...
Hoping to make it champ bay...
It's extinguisher.
[kenny] john flaacke actually
did some computer engineering
for his local fire department
for his senior project.
That's why you see the shirts,
and the bot designed that way,
and the sirens!
[chris] unless that's the cops
coming to get you, kenny.
[kenny chuckles]
so when extinguisher's going right,
what's working?
[kenny] well,
they're going to have to utilize that wedge
to really hit gigabyte
as hard as possible.
Get him up against the
side of the battle box,
and get that hammer to
fire down on top of him.
[people cheering]
we're fighting extinguisher.
I was confident in the last
fight. That didn't work out.
So I'm... I'm cautiously
optimistic on this.
I think if we can get up to speed,
we're going to win that fight.
We have to be able to
spin up and not break.
If we lose this,
we'll have more fights,
but there's no chance of
us getting into the final 32.
It's the whole season.
Today we're fighting gigabyte.
We're using our hammer module.
We wanna use a heavy
wedge on the front.
Just gonna try to plough
into him with the wedge
at really high speeds,
and hopefully knock
something loose.
Even at the slowest speed
we're gonna try to poke
the hammer through the lid
and get to some
of the internal stuff.
[automated voice]
robots activate.
[announcer] and, kenny,
one other thing gigabytes struggled with
in its first fight
was the floor.
Yeah, chris, but the floor has
seasoned quite a bit since then,
so let's see if they're able to
control things a little better here.
[automated voice]
blue team ready.
[all cheering]
[automated voice]
red team ready.
[announcer] both
teams need this one.
When it comes to
making the tournament,
o and two is a deep
hole to climb out of.
[man shouting indistinctly]
[cheering]
[beeping]
[chris] let the
bot battle begin!
The extinguisher
whiffs on the box rush.
[kenny] gigabyte
has time to spin...
[chris] oh, a monster shot.
Extinguisher on its back,
but is able to self-right.
Wow!
Extinguisher misses
with the hammer,
and gigabyte capitalizes, and,
kenny, that hammer's about toast.
- [chris] whoa! - [kenny] oh-oh!
Big time energy.
[chris] and the front wedge on
extinguisher, the left side of it,
is missing a chunk.
Extinguisher looking out classed here,
chris.
Gigabyte is still
hovering at full speed.
[both] oh!
[chris] another huge shot!
How many of those
could extinguisher take?
[both] oh...
[chris] there goes some tires.
Yes!
[chris] team gigabyte
already celebrating.
As for extinguisher,
that fire theme robot,
may need to call the real
fire department themselves
if they don't throw
in the towel here.
This one looking like
it's going to be over.
[man] ten, nine, eight...
[chris] he's got a counter now.
Yeah, this is going to be it.
...Seven...
[chris] gigabyte is
going to keep its distance
and save its shell.
And pick up win number one.
[speaking indistinctly]
[man] gigabyte winner!
[all cheering]
we might have to mark it in.
Yeah, a little bit.
[chris] kenny, that was the
second straight fight extinguisher
whipped on a box rush.
[kenny] yeah. If you give
gigabyte time to spin up,
you're gonna feel the pain.
Got that great hit
on extinguisher,
and extinguisher just
wasn't right after that.
[chris] now here
his hammer's okay.
And then watch this.
- This is the shot that twisted...
- [kenny] wow!
[chris] ...That hammer,
and from there,
they were sitting duck.
Hammer's not supposed
to work that way way.
[kenny] gigabyte was the
clear favorite in this match,
and they took care
of their business.
They not only won,
but won in convincing fashion,
improving their resume
and making a statement.
Up next, stay out of the
water because sharko returns
to the battle box
to face slap box,
battlebots fight
night continues.
We are back on
battlebots and up next,
a pair of bots that are
on the opposite ends
of the experience spectrum.
It's sharko and battlebots
veteran edward robinson
versus slap box
and the 14-year-old high school
freshman bryce yankauskas.
Kenny, it's a rookie
squaring off against a builder
who told us earlier this
year that this is going to be
his final season on battlebots.
[kenny] well, for it being ed's last
season, he's really upgraded the robot.
It used to be made
out of recycled parts,
but he's really put some
money into this version of sharko.
And for slap box, you know,
bryce has no fear.
He gave it his all against
tombstone in his first fight.
He didn't win,
but he definitely proved
that slap box can
hang with the big boys.
Should be a ton of fun to watch.
Faruq, show us how it's done.
In the blue square,
from tacoma, california,
the deep sea slayer sharko!
[chris] sharko lost
a judge's decision
to speedy first time around.
That bot looks way better
than one we saw in 2019.
[kenny] yeah, no doubt about it.
Sharko's a pretty
powerful grappler,
and a lot of times
you can't really tell
when it bites down,
how strong that is.
That's 2,000 pounds of force
that's about four times harder
than the real great white bite.
[chris] they have 30
shots in order to get it done
before they run out of
pressure on that bite.
In the red square from knox,
indiana.
Who's your daddy?
It's slap box!
[chris] it is truly
a family affair.
Now, slap box is a rookie bot,
but the yankaskas
family isn't new here.
Dad dominic was on
team gemini last season.
He and 11-year-old connor,
the young guy on the left,
are part of gemini
this season as well.
Kenny,
what do we have working with slap box?
[kenny] on slap box they have
an extended front hinge lifter.
They're gonna try to
get underneath sharko.
And, also, utilize all the hazards
of the battlebots to win this fight.
They're expecting to go the
full three minutes against sharko.
[chris] and just to make
sure everybody's got a gig,
the 8-year-old daughter onika
will be operating the flame thrower.
Tonight we're
fighting sharkoprion.
My plan is to just stay in
control of 'em the whole match,
push him into the screws,
used the hammers.
Really,
just use the bots to my advantage.
We have a flamethrower that
we're gonna be using in this match.
My little sister is actually
gonna be controlling the flame.
We will be ready
for this fight tonight.
We've drawn slap box tonight.
He always box rushes.
What I'm gonna do is
wait for him to box rush,
and I'm gonna stop dead
right in the middle of the arena.
That'll make my face drop down.
Mouth wide open.
Just try to grab him right off the bat,
taking him out of the arena.
Sharks are apex predators, man.
This guy's good,
but you're still relatively new.
When he gets in the
box with the shark,
he's gonna be nothing but shell.
[automated voice]
robots activate.
[cheering]
[electrical buzzing]
[chris] let the
bot battle begin.
Here comes slap box trying
to get underneath sharko,
and sharko sheds a scale.
[kenny] there's
the box rush there.
[chris] whoa! Look
at that tail spin!
Edward robinson's saying,
"come on young buck.
You wanna wrestle?"
[kenny] yeah,
ed is looking to get sharko in position
to open those jaws and
clamp down on slap box.
That's what he's hunting for.
[chris] sharko pops
that jaw open wide.
Slap box looks like they're
having a bit of trouble
getting traction on the
battle box floor here.
We've seen a lot of that with
rookie drivers this season.
There's the flame thrower the 8-year-old
onika's in charge of on slap box.
[kenny] yeah, slap box's gotta continue
to use that lifter to try inverting sharko.
If it can do that,
sharko's clamper
will be much less of a threat.
[chris] nearly
admitted in and...
Oh!
Nice little bite by sharko.
[edward laughs maniacally]
[chris] listen to edward robinson,
how excited he is.
[chuckling] I love
that evil laugh.
Listen to the team from sharko.
[edward] bite! Bite! Bite!
Drop! Drop!
[kenny] sharko scoring some
points without primary weapon, chris.
[chris] he's got
another bite... Oh!
[kenny] look at this!
[exclaiming] he
turned the tables!
[chris] that was awesome!
Oh!
[chris] slap box can't
shake the shark loose
so it drags it across
the battle box.
[kenny] sharko is
able to get out of there,
kind of rolled out of there,
chris.
[chris] slap box still in pursuit
in what has been a very closed...
- Oh!
- [kenny] oh! Look at this.
[chris] what a nice
job by slap box,
and sharko is
driving on its head.
[kenny] a little roasted shark.
That thing's gotta flip back
over in order to be most effective.
[chris] slap box burning
the tail out on sharko.
Looking very much
in control now.
[kenny] look at sharko
trying to flip itself.
Trying to flip itself,
trying to get enough energy
and assist from slack box
and then flipped it back over.
It's important to cook your
meat evenly on both sides, chris.
[chris] yes, 90 seconds on each side,
to be exact.
Speaking of time,
we've got 45 seconds left
in what has been a
highly entertaining match
between a 14-year-old
and a shark.
But edward robinson's bot looks
like it might have had enough
showing very little
movement right now.
Sharko is trucking
to pump itself over
and now he's being counted out.
Nine, eight, seven,
- six...
- Slap box is gonna be able to
- celebrate its first victory ever!
- ...Five, four, three,
two, one!
Sharko is knocked out.
The winner is slap box.
[crowd cheering]
[indistinct chatter]
great fight! That was a great fight,
man.
That was awesome.
[kenny] what great sportsmanship
showed by sharko as well.
Saying,
"amazing fight. A great fight."
we agreed all around.
[chris] kenny, sometimes you don't
know what a fight's gonna look like.
But this one was
awfully entertaining.
[kenny] this was a great fight.
There's sharko getting
ahold of slap box,
trying to chew
him up a little bit.
- Oh.
- That's the move of the man.
[kenny] without a
doubt. It was so good that
the person who
was in it respected it.
[chris] and then seconds later,
sharko gets flipped on over.
And this was the beginning
of the end for edward robinson.
[all cheering]
- slap box! Slap box!
- [edward] outward suplex was beautiful.
- It just moved!
- [chris] bryce.
Bryce, you just got victory
number one at battlebots.
How good does it feel?
It feels amazing.
It was well worth it.
We put in all of
the effort to repair
after that fight with tombstone.
Feels great to be here.
It's awesome.
Bryce, there was a lot of
action in that flight, man.
Can you take us through it?
- Quite honestly, I don't remember most of it.
- [laughs]
I know we had a suplex
and a couple of flips in there.
That's about it.
That's all I remember.
Bryce,
it was your sister that was actually
operating the
flamethrower. Is that correct?
Yeah, that's correct.
How'd she do?
She did a great job.
How about you ask her yourself?
How about I do?
So, did you have fun out there?
- Yeah. - [kenny laughs]
how fun is it to win
a fight at battlebots?
It's amazing.
Yeah? Do you still have to
do school while you're here?
Yes.
Well,
guess what? Take the day off
after you just
picked up a victory.
Tell your parents I told you so,
okay?
All right. Congratulations to
team slap box win number one.
- Congratulations, guys.
- [crowd cheering]
thank you.
Edward.
I know that, uh,
you guys would rather win.
But if you're going to lose...
If you're gonna lose,
that's the way to do it.
That flaming suplex was beautiful,
man.
[exhales] I love this.
And it's,
it's been a tough year for you.
Your longtime partner in this sport,
john hoffman,
you lost him because of cancer.
How emotional has the last
few months been for you?
It has been a roller coaster.
And this is the
first time I'd smiled
since he went to
the hospital basically.
I know I'm not
gonna win the nut,
but if I get one kid
interested in this sport
and he builds a robot,
and comes out here,
I've done exactly what I wanted to do.
Edward robinson.
Not all heroes wear capes,
my friend.
- Thank you for providing some entertainment.
- I do.
- You do. You do! - [laughing]
sometimes they do.
Take a bow, sharko. Take a bow.
And that, ladies and gentlemen,
is what battlebots is all about.
Ed's loss there gives
the high school freshman
his first win in his
battlebots career.
That was flat out awesome.
Up next, we're about to see
a couple of two-and-oh teams
take the stage
as malice squares
off against madcatter.
When it comes to these two
bots and the tournament tonight,
it's win and you're in.
We are back on battlebots,
and what a night
it's already been.
Next up,
a couple of undefeated teams
get ready to square off
in malice and madcatter.
And let's get ready to
have some fun with this one,
because we're gonna
run the emotional gamut
with these two captains.
It's pretty simple.
Let's start with malice
and bunny sauriol.
For years, she's been a pit
crew member for other teams.
Finally gets to captain the ship,
and she's two-and-oh.
- [man] oh! Oh, my god! - Yeah!
That's how you do it!
[chris] we are learning
she is one of the fiercest
trash talkers in battlebots
and, kenny,
halfway through the qualifying rounds,
she has this robot looking
like it could do some
serious damage in
the tournament as well.
Just to be here,
it's been a dream come true,
and to go two-and-oh
at this point
in battlebots is just amazing.
Um,
both of these guys are kind of
the biggest characters that
we have here at battlebots.
But her bot is the
real deal as well.
Yeah, you're talking about
martin mason for madcatter.
Also,
two-and-oh just like malice.
Martin mason is not
like bunny sauriol.
- He's, like, all over the place.
- Oh, yeah!
- Energy, fun. - [kenny laughs]
he's a teacher at a
community college.
He's building up his students.
They are part of his pit crew.
They built this bot.
He's running a thousand miles an hour,
dude.
That's a nice way of saying
he's completely out of his mind.
- Right. - It is crazy.
But you know what? Don't
be distracted by the character.
I've been telling
you guys all season.
This bot is legit.
It could do some damage.
[chris] yeah,
and his students love him.
Or at least that's what
they say to his face
so they all get a good
grade or something like that.
This is gonna be great.
Two-and-oh against two-and-oh.
Somebody's gonna solidify
their spot in the top 32
and maybe grab hold of a
really good seating as well.
The selection committee.
He's paying attention
closely to this fight.
Faruq, it's all on you now.
[crowd cheering]
in the blue square
from san jose,
where instead of
california dreaming,
you'll be california screaming.
It's malice!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] oh,
she's bringing the cat food with her.
Meow.
Malice putting together
a quality season so far.
And one of the
reasons is that weapon.
It is so fierce, kenny.
[kenny] yeah,
they call that 65lb disc big red,
and you could see why
it's incredibly powerful.
A little more cumbersome though
than the weapon we saw them use
in their win over another
hammer bot and shatter.
But I think that means they're
preparing for an all out brawl here, chris.
[faruq] in the red square,
this cat comes equipped
with a giant hammer to swing
and much like simba,
he just can't wait
to be it be king.
Beating him,
he'll leave you with a scar
just for trying because
there's nothing cowardly
about this lion.
It's madcatter!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] a knockout of fusion,
a knockout of rib out
and move to a two-and-oh start.
That's one mean kitty.
[kenny] yeah,
madcatter's debuting their
flaming hammer
configuration tonight,
and I cannot wait
to see it in action.
They really wanna
flip malice over
and then pound it's slightly
less armored underbelly
with that new weapon tonight.
Against madcatter
we're going to be using
the s7 tooth of big red.
We're pretty sure they're
gonna run their big hammer.
Normally,
we'd run for playing against hammers.
But with how long theirs is
we're pretty sure they're
gonna overshoot our robot.
I think it'd be the most important
thing to get another win in this fight.
The more wins you have,
the more likely you're gonna be
able to get into the round of
We've taken some
measurements off of their bot.
We're convinced we're gonna
be able to slide him up in the air
and then hit the
underside of their robot.
There's a little story
about a robot named malice
that fought a little
bunny down a rabbit hole.
And you know who's
down in that rabbit hole?
There was a tea party
run by a madcatter,
and at the end of that tea party
there was nothing
left of alice but crumbs.
- It's malice branded cat food.
- Yeah?
[automated voice]
robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny,
martin mason may try to suplex later,
but he has a reason to
be pumped up for this fight.
[kenny] yeah. Whoever wins
this is basically guaranteed
a spot in the round of 32.
The stakes are very high
for both of the squads.
[chris] malice. Madcatter.
Two undefeated teams looking to
keep their perfect seasons intact.
The gloves come off when
battlebots fight night continues.
[crowd cheering]
we are back on battlebots
and we are all set for a meeting
between a couple
of undefeated teams.
It's malice facing off
against madcatter.
Whoever can get to
three-and-oh here will basically
solidify their spot
in the round of 32.
[automated voice]
blue team ready.
[crowd cheering]
[automated voice]
red team ready.
- Yeah. - Yeah!
[chris] bunny sauriol
captaining malice.
Martin mason for madcatter.
[crowd chanting]
fight! Fight! Fight!
Let the bot battle begin!
It might be a battle to see
who get to say for
whose primary weapon.
A couple of big shots
in the early going.
And malice getting
thrown around a little bit.
Oh, standing up.
[kenny] he's teed up. He's teed up,
chris.
[chris] whoa, look at this.
Malice is trying to shake itself
so it could get its
wheels back out round.
And madcatter is just
gonna let it stand there.
[kenny] oh, come on, get in there,
cassie cat. Come on.
Come on,
big fella. There you go.
- [all shouting] - there you go.
[chris] wow! Lightening up!
But bunny sauriol's bots
still flailing like a
turtle on its back.
Well,
malice has got to do something,
it's trying to shift itself.
[bunny] come on. Come on.
[chris] can it get
itself over? It's close.
It's close.
- Come on! - [referee] ten!
- Now malice is getting counted down.
- Nine, eight...
And madcatter's just standing
there looking at it, and saying...
"I'll take the dumping
and thank you."
tip it over. Woo!
- [referee] two... - Nope.
- [referee] one! - Oh.
Knocked out malice.
Winner madcatter.
[whooping triumphantly]
good job, guys. Yeah!
- [crowd cheering] -
we're good. We're good.
[chris] a win for a hammer.
Well, kenny,
a lot happened in a little bit of time,
so why don't you
break it down for us.
[kenny] chris,
both teams came out aggressive.
Their bots rushes almost looked
like a choreographed dance,
but after an expl*sive start for both bots,
madcatter
clipped malice's left wheel
and gave it just a perfect touch.
I can't blame martin
mason for laying off there,
but I do have to wonder
what would have happened
if malice stop
spinning its weapon.
That rotational momentum
makes it harder to move.
It's physics, chris.
[chris] martin mason.
- Yeah! - Hey!
How's three and o sound?
You know, it feels great.
I got a great crew.
I got a great robot.
It is driving fantastic.
Everything is dialed in.
You've seen three different styles
from us. You've got a lot more to see.
And how about that flamin'
hammer? Those flames are fantastic.
Hey, martin, there's people
that are watching on tv at home
that were rooting for you to help flip
malice back over so the fight can continue.
Did you consider that at all?
You know,
bunny is an incredible captain.
David is my former teammate.
He's a great strategist.
We're not gonna give 'em. They're
gonna give us the win. We're gonna take it.
All right. So, what about all your kids
that you teach at community college?
Are they getting straight
a's this semester or what?
You know what? My students
get the grades they earn.
They worked their tails off.
You see the results in there.
- [crowd cheering] - okay.
Martin mason, congratulations
to you and your entire crew.
- You get straight a's from us. Good job.
- [team hooting]
- martin mason and madcatter, three and o.
- Who would have thunk it?
Unbelievable, man. They really have brought
a very intense bot, a very potent bot.
They're making the right
changes with their weapons.
This is a serious team.
It feels like at least a top 15 team,
maybe even top 10 at this point?
It could very well be. Yeah.
[chris] and what about
big picture for malice?
Because I know that bunny probably
feels like that's a missed opportunity
that if we don't land on our backside,
we're the ones that are three and o.
It was kind of unlucky there.
But, obviously,
now they have some information
they do not want
this to happen again.
They need a way to self-right,
or at least get back onto the floor.
How do you adjust? That's the
name of the game in battlebots.
[chris] all right, so martin mason
and madcatter stay undefeated,
and we are now inching closer and closer to
a main event that is sure to pack a punch.
We'll see uppercut
take on sawblaze
as alex hattori tries to best
his former teammate
and mentor jamison go.
But up next, it's a pair of teams looking
for redemption after their first fights.
It's atom94 and tantrum
when we return on battle bots.
[chris] welcome
back to battlebots.
We've already seen some
all-out brawls on the fight card,
and the night promises
to only get better.
We are just two fights away from
what should be an expl*sive main event.
In the meantime, let's turn
our attention to a pair of robots
trying to break into the win
column for the first time this season.
And let's start
with a rookie bot.
Atom94 captained
by yash deshmukh
he is the first indian builder
in the history of battlebots,
not super excited that he
lost his battlebots debut.
But he's always smiling because he
feels like he's always learning here.
You've gotta love his passion.
Didn't have the best
matchup against big dill.
Wasn't able to get it done.
But I think they're going to make
the right adjustments to be back better.
They are taking on
a bot named tantrum.
We've seen it years before,
with aren hill.
Even though it lost its
opening match against valkyrie,
I imagine that aren hill is feeling
pretty good about his robot.
He was looking very dominant. I mean,
as I was watching that fight,
this is a bot that can really go very,
very far.
At the end of the day,
as a bot builder,
you wanna make sure that
your bot is working properly.
He struggled with that
primary weapon last season.
That looks like a serious
weapon this season.
If he can make the right tweaks,
he could maybe get
the top 32 at least.
Let's see how it
does tonight. Faruq...
In the blue square,
from mountain view, california,
it's got its eyes on you. Don't
upset it or else, it will throw
a tantrum!
[chris] again. Kenny, tantrum is looking
for their first w of the season here,
and we can already see
some of the changes that they
made as a result of their last fight.
[kenny] yeah,
notice the fists are gone, chris.
They had to lose those
in order to make room
for the weight of
additional batteries.
They ran out of juice in that valerie
fight, which probably cost them the win.
And in the red square,
from calgary,
he says, "it's designed by our mind,
to kick your behind",
atom94!
[chris] atom94 didn't have the
debut they were looking for, kenny.
But their captain, yash deshmukh
is still sounding pretty confident.
[kenny] well, they completely redid the
weapon drive train after their first fight.
So they're looking to show
what it can actually do tonight.
And don't forget, ray billings of
tombstone mentors these guys.
So you know he had some words of
wisdom for yash after their first fight.
[crowd cheering]
facing off against atom94, we're
feeling pretty confident in this fight
just based on how it performed in our
first one, and the upgrades we have made.
The strategy early
on is gonna be
get our set up up to full
potency as far as weapon goes,
see how they're driving around
and then that'll dictate whether or not
we try to line in perfect punches
or just take any ones we can dish.
The weapon design
which we are using,
it would be getting
chunks out of metal
rather than hitting
and creating sparks.
If we are able to get that,
after that, I don't think
tantrum might be able
to make any difference.
I'm just thinking
about the drivetrain
and the traction of the
wall on the battlebots arena.
That's the only thing which
I'm concerned right now.
Other than that,
like, I'm ready to go.
[crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] robots activate.
[chris] okay, let's bring in our
bot whisperer, peter abrahamson.
Pete, aren hills made some tweaks
to tantrum. What do you know about it?
[peter] so, one of the things I was
noticing on tantrum over there...
They've taken off
the big rubber fists
and the flame throwers off
their self-righting mechanism.
They've also added
a few long forks.
Hopefully, that won't hinder the punch
of their weapon as it comes forward,
because they still need to get that
other robot up in front of their wheel.
- [chris] thanks, pete.
- [crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] blue team,
ready.
[robotic voice] red team, ready.
[electronic distortion noises]
[crowd cheering louder]
[buzzing]
[chris] let the
bot battle begin.
Atom94 has that
weapon up to speed.
Tantrum hanging... ohh!
[kenny] nice shot
there by atom94.
[chris] tantrum in trouble
here out of the gate,
but manages to
sell-right and escape.
Come on.
[chris] here come tantrum,
approaching with those forks.
[kenny] getting underneath
atom94 and taking it for a little ride?
[chris] ooh. Tantrum almost
does itself in on the screws.
- Oh, nice! - [kenny] woo hoo!
[chris] bigtime sparks and a
good kiss shot too by tantrum.
[kenny] aren hill waiting to
battle for low ground here,
getting that puncher underneath atom94,
going to work.
[chris] yash deshmukh has
got to drive away from tantrum
but he can't get his wheels on the floor,
kenny.
[kenny] uh, tantrum doing a great
job attacking from back and... ohh!
That might have
been the k*ll shot.
I don't think atom94 is
gonna recover from that, chris.
[chris] no, it can spin its weapon,
but it can't flip back over.
- [referee] 10, 9, 8...
- [chris] let the countdown commence.
This is gonna do it.
Listen to the roar of tantrum's
weapon as atom94 lies helpless.
That's a knockout of atom.
- [referee] blue, tantrum wins.
- [crowd cheering]
[kenny] that's what I call a knockout,
chris.
That's the tantrum
we've been waiting to see.
[bleep]
[chris] kenny, aren hill knew
exactly what he had to do tonight,
and he did it.
[kenny] atom94 landed
that big blow early on,
but tantrum did not waver
from their game plan.
Aren hill used
those forks brilliantly,
propping up atom94
up again and again
to just let their
spinner go to town.
Tantrum,
the robot was impressive,
but this was really a
testament to aren hill's driving.
He was so calculated,
and that got them a much needed victory.
[crowd cheering]
[indistinct shouting]
all right, it looks like the crew from
tantrum is all smiles under that mask.
Aren hill, how you doing?
I'm doing pretty good. These are
nice and shiny, recently disinfected.
- We're all good to go.
- All right.
Got some good hits in.
It felt better, I imagine,
than the first match?
Yeah, it did. Well,
first one did feel pretty good till...
I'm saying we lost
to ourselves on that.
Aren, it seems like you guys
have really dialed in that bot
and also getting very
comfortable driving tantrum.
Is that the case?
Yeah, this last offseason,
I put in a lot of action,
a lot of hours running
that thing around.
It gives me a lot
more confidence
to see what it can
take and just go for it.
So, do you think you have
done enough through two fights
to impress the selection
committee to get to the round of 32?
Uh, [clears throat] between the two fights
we had so far, I'm feeling really confident.
I'm hoping we get a good
draw for the third one,
keep up that strength of schedule,
get a good seed.
Aren hill,
congratulations. Nice job by team tantrum.
Thank you.
[hoots]
big picture,
how much damage could this robot do
if it does make it
to the round of 32?
Did you hear that thing?
It really did sound
like a minotaur,
or like a jet engine is
starting to get fired up.
That is a very potent
weapon. He proved it again.
Just the whole bot in general is compact,
it's solid, it's durable now.
These guys can go very far.
All right, let's pretend that this jib camera
in front of us is the selection committee.
Uh, you can either nod yes,
or you can say no.
Are you impressed
so far with tantrum?
Yeah, I thought so.
Okay, aren hill,
that's good news.
You're not in yet,
but you impress.
All right. Coming up.
We still have four more teams
that want a head nod from the selection
committee just as bad is aren hill.
But with just two
fights left in the night,
- let's take a look at our made event.
- [crowd cheering]
our first fight of the year,
we fought whiplash.
[indistinct shouting]
I think it went pretty well.
[kenny] winner's sawblaze.
We came out with a ko victory.
[chris] what a performance from
jamison go and team sawblaze.
One and o is a great start, but we
have another tough opponent in uppercut.
You're going to take
one straight to the gut.
From... Uppercut!
[shouts]
uppercut, last season,
they proved a lot
by making it to the top 16,
which is a big deal.
That's something we
didn't think would happen.
And this season, they had a
knockout win very quickly over gemini.
- [crowd shouting] -[chris]
knocked it out of the arena!
From what I heard, it's the first time
that's happened in battlebots history
that gemini has
been knocked out.
[chris] kenny,
what the hell just happened?
- [hooting] - I'm sorry, guys.
[jamison] it's clear uppercut has
an extremely powerful weapon,
but it makes the robot
really difficult to control.
[chris] uppercut trying to
get that knockout punch.
So, what we're gonna try
and do is to get around them,
get the shots we want,
and dodge that weapon altogether.
[kenny] oh,
sawblaze is attacking from behind.
This is amazing driving
right now from jamison go.
This year,
we've had these huge torque upgrades.
The blade gets to deadly
speeds in about a second.
Well done. You guys
keep getting better.
Our goal is just to keep
the front end facing him
so he can't really drop
that hammer-saw on us.
What I'm most concerned
about fighting uppercut
is my own personal
feelings for alex hattori.
He's one of my best friends.
I met alex around 2016 at mit.
My team introduced him into
the world of combat robotics.
[chris] how about
the kids from mit?
I was a member of
sawblaze in the 2018 season.
[shouts]
and I learned a ton from working
with jamison and the other people.
[jamison] now that he's,
you know, split off,
it's really great to see his
development as a robot fighter.
It's gonna be really
tough to fight him.
- [dramatic music playing] -[alex]
out of the entire competition,
jamison's one of the
last people I want to fight.
But even when you're
competing against your friends,
you're still gonna
try your hardest.
And so, we're gonna spin up that blade,
we're gonna hit...
And it means
someone's gonna lose.
[jamison] I've always thought of
alex as kind of like my apprentice.
I taught him
everything that I know.
[chris] he's got a big future,
this kid.
Let's see if the student
can become the master.
[indistinct shouting]
we're not gonna
hold back in this fight,
but one can hope that it's not
too destructive for either one.
If we can get a ko, I think it
guarantees our spot in the tournament.
[shouts]
forget the rest of tournament,
it's all about this fight.
[chris] welcome
back to battlebots
where we are driving
towards tonight's main event.
But first, as we move closer
to this year's tournament,
it's time to talk
power rankings.
And kenny, you've put together a list
that should be fun for the fans to debate.
[kenny] that's right, chris. Now I
know this might set the internet on fire.
But here's my breakdown of
the most dangerous weapons
here in this season's
qualifying rounds of battlebots.
Kicking things off at number
which just cooked will bales and
hypershock earlier this season.
- [kenny] oh!
- [chris] wow, look at the flame throwers on that!
[kenny] a few slots down,
we see beta's hammer.
Oh, it's hammer time.
Now,
they didn't fire it in their first fight,
but we have seen what
it can do in the test box.
It's gone from an electric to
a pneumatic power source,
and according to john
reed and gabriel stroud,
the impact is equivalent
to a washing machine dropping on
you from about a two story building.
At seven and six respectively,
it's valkyrie and rotator.
We saw the damage
they did to each other.
[chris] unbelievable,
the sparks that are flying in this one.
[kenny] what a fight that was.
Now, bloodsport might be a
little bit of a surprise at five.
[chris] whoa,
holy smokes! Bloodsport on the attack.
[kenny] but their new blade is
They've got two huge wins
over skorpios and end game,
and the kinetic energy
that thing produces
is equivalent to a blast
from a 35 pound cannon ball.
In our top spots, we have two of
our most powerful vertical spinners,
and then hydra's flipper,
which has kept them undefeated
in the qualifying rounds,
dating back to last season.
Hydra is just
dominating right now.
But it's no surprise
who's number one.
We strapped an accelerometer
to tombstone's bar...
More than 200 g's of
centripetal acceleration.
That's not quite a helicopter blade,
but it's getting there.
Frankly, it's hard not to have ray billings
and tombstone in the number one spot.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] good job, kenny. Do yourself a
favor and don't check your mentions.
Up next, it's a fight that we could
have had in one of the five boroughs.
They're new yorkers. Joe fabiani,
who lives in manhattan.
He is the captain of
smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
and he's taking on pain train
and evan arias who
currently lives in staten island.
[kenny] yeah, chris. Neither of these
guys had the debuts they wanted,
but they both had a ton of success in
the beta weight robot fighting division.
So, they know how to build
great bots and drive them.
But they have to prove they
can do it here in the big leagues.
I think this is a good
matchup for both these guys.
And let's see if the person working
on their jerseys and the sewing
can keep the e's on this time, because it
went from smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to smee.
Lost all the e's inside the box.
Faruq, do your thing.
In the blue square,
from new york city,
if he can beat you there,
he can beat you anywhere,
it's smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
[chris] there it is,
smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
and you have to see
this thing to believe it.
It is 14 feet long or about the
length of your typical mid-size sedan.
[kenny] yeah, joe built this
bot out of his apartment at nyu.
It features two horizontal
spinners at the tips,
and it's meant to wrap around its
opponent like a snake and chip away.
In the red square,
from new york city,
the monster of manhattan,
pain train.
[chris] here's team pain train looking like
they're straight out of the movie, the warriors
and get this, the same motors
that power smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
are used by pain train,
which is about a tenth of the size.
[kenny] yeah, it's a quick,
compact bot, chris.
It features an
egg-beater style drum
that spins at 250 miles an hour,
which is fast enough to
dish out some damage
if evan can put himself in
position to make contact.
[crowd cheering]
pain train has very
sharp wedges on the front
which have a risk of getting under us 'cause
they're steel and whereas, we're plastic.
If they get under us, they get a good
hit with their drum and flip us over,
that would be very hard for us.
They're actually a
local new york team.
They're on staten island,
we're in manhattan,
and we've known
each other for a while.
Their fearsome drum spinner,
they have really good weapon,
and he's a great driver. So,
it's a tough fight.
My strategy going into tonight's fight is
going head on with smeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
and taking out those wheels
the second I get behind him.
For this fight,
I did a few modifications.
I made sure I lowered my
speed down on my driving
just to make sure I get
sharper turns on joe,
because his robot's
a little more obtuse.
It's the biggest robot here
going against the smallest robot,
and we're ready to get in the arena
and tear up a little bit of smeeeeeeeeeee.
[crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] robots activate.
[dramatic music playing]
[chris] smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
obviously one of the more unique robots.
But those disk spinners you
mentioned are no joke, kenny.
[kenny] each blade is 17 pounds,
and those things spin at 230 miles an hour.
Let's see if they
can attack the flanks
and try to get to the
wheels of pain train.
[robotic voice] blue team,
ready.
[robotic voice] red team, ready.
[teammate] let's do it, evan.
[electronic distortion noises]
[chris] pain train, smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
in the battle of nyc.
[buzzing]
let the bot battle begin!
Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
on the attack.
Let's see if it can wrap all
the way around pain train.
[kenny] smeeeeeeeeee is trying to envelope
pain train. Not quite able to do it.
[teammate] gotta get under 'em.
[chris] both bots probing,
looking for that best angle of attack...
- [metallic clang] -[kenny] there's some
damage from smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
[chris] yeah, it took a shot.
- Hit pain train,
- [metallic clang]
thanks to those horizontal
spinners on the side.
Once again,
they spin at 230 miles an hour.
Okay, smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
trying to whip itself around pain train.
Such a unique design.
[kenny] looks like pain train just confused
as to how to even deal with smeeeeeeeeeeee.
Get in there, yeah!
[chris] but you can hear
that spinner firing up.
Now it's just got
to deliver a shot.
It's having some driving issues,
real driving issues.
[kenny] yeah, I'm not sure if it's
traction or the weapon momentum.
Either way, evan is struggling.
[chris] this is a problem. I mean,
the weapon sounds great,
it just can't find a piece of
smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...
[kenny] there you go.
- Yes! - Yeah!
[chris] pain train
draws first blood,
ripping off one of smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's
two horizontal spinners.
[kenny] yeah,
and that is going to
affect the way
smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee can drive, chris.
Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee may just
be moving in circles from here on out.
[chris] listen to that. Pain train's
weapon sounds intimidating, kenny,
but it's really those
forks on the front
that have been jabbing away at
smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee most of the night,
trying to score some points.
[kenny] and for smeeeeeeeeeee, they've done
a good job of trying to control the ring,
not letting pain train get
behind them for a k*ll shot.
[chris] pain train
staying aggressive.
We gotta get behind 'em.
[chris] smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
with some ground to make up here.
Remember, pain train has
disabled one of their two spinners.
- [metallic crashing] - whoa.
[kenny] oh! Oh, yeah!
[chris] whoa, the weapon has
come totally off of pain train.
Unbelievable! What a shot
by smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
But it looks like that impact has
knocked out their weapon as well.
[kenny] pain train is
literally falling apart
in the battlebox right now.
That's all I could.
[chris] so we are under
thirty seconds to go.
Can both of these
bots continue to fight?
That is the question.
[kenny] oh,
man. Pain train is just a shell right now,
but smeeeeeeeeeeeee really
isn't moving too well either, is it?
[chris] so if you're
keeping score,
pain train has lost
its main weapon.
Smeeeeeeeeeeeee has
lost both of its weapons
and this one is going
to go the distance.
- [buzzer sounds] - we're done,
we're done!
That was something.
[chris] both drivers looking
relieved to have survived that fight,
and that means it is now
in the hands of the judges.
Jason bardis,
lisa winter and derek young.
So smeeeeeeeeeeeee was
trying to fully encapsulate pain train
and it didn't quite work, kenny.
[kenny] no, he didn't.
And let's be honest, neither of these
bots lived up to the hype in this fight.
They've got some work to do.
[chris] now,
pain train did get a big time shot
right on the side of
smeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Knocking off that
horizontal spinner.
But then pain train as things
were going swimmingly for it...
Uh-oh.
[kenny] yeah,
and that was a direct hit
from the horizontal spinner
of smeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Just completely disabling the
primary weapon of pain train.
See you later.
The results from
the judges are in.
[audiene cheering]
we have a split decision.
Judge jason scored
the battle for pain train!
[audience cheering]
judge lisa scored the
battle for smeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Judge derek scored
the battle for the winner...
...Pain train!
[audience cheering]
[all exclaiming]
oh my god!
- Evan. - Yes.
Congratulations
on win number one.
Thank you. [laughs]
for a guy who's dreamed
about this his entire life
ever since he grew up in the
new york city projects as a little kid,
what does it mean to you?
It's a dream come true, really.
And nothing means
more than this.
Smeeeeeeeeeeeee
is such an unusual bot.
What was your game
plan heading into this?
I had to slow down
my speed controls
to stay really on
top of the game.
Last fight, I was little, you know,
little switchy, little everywhere.
So now this fight,
I feel more focused.
And for the next fight,
I'm ready to get back in
and take care of
my wheelie situation.
So, evan, be honest,
when you lost your main weapon
and were barely moving,
did you think you
had lost this fight?
No. You never give up
with or without a weapon.
You gotta drive. You keep going.
So, evan,
what has this experience been like for you?
As a guy who probably thought
he would never end up here.
And here you are.
It feels unreal. I think I'm
gonna have to pinch myself
a few times throughout the day.
Evan,
go celebrate with your team.
Congratulations on your
first ever battlebots victory.
- Thank you. [laughs]
- [audience cheering]
and congratulations
to evan arias
and team pain train.
That weapon,
it was workin' really well,
the first 90 seconds
and they got some
driving issues.
If they get that fixed,
they're gonna be an interesting robot.
[kenny] yeah,
they were better than last time.
There weren't wobbling
around as much.
So he's getting there.
He's almost there.
Both these teams... One on one.
Comin' up, a box shaking,
bot breaking,
my legs are shaking, main event.
It's sawblaze versus uppercut,
a colossal collision.
Next, on battlebots.
We're back on battlebots
and kenny florian,
it is time right now for our main event.
It is a tasty one.
A pair of teams from mit.
You've got jamison
go and sawblaze.
Uppercut captain
by alex hattori.
You think maybe
there's some animosity.
Maybe some bragging
rights on the line.
Doesn't sound like it at all,
huh?
Yeah,
not really the battle for mit necessarily.
Perhaps, uh,
a battle of master versus student,
uh, maybe something like that.
We know jamison was kind of a
mentor to alex getting into the sport.
But jamison's girlfriend lucy,
who's also on team sawblaze,
was actually alex's
ta back at mit.
So the connection between these
two teams run incredibly deep.
Alex hattori actually
came out and told us,
"hey, listen,
if there is no sawblaze,
there is no uppercut."
but don't mistaken
that for the fact that
both these guys want to win
and know how important it is.
[kenny] and this is really
alex hattori's chance to prove
that they truly
are top contenders
for the giant nut, this season.
I mean, gemini isn't quite on
the same level as sawblaze,
but uppercut was able to
completely incapacitate gemini
in just 12.9 seconds, chris.
They're just so
incredibly powerful.
[chris] but hey,
that hammer saw on sawblaze.
It's no joke either.
[kenny] yeah, I mean, it absolutely
shredded the armor on whiplash
in that first fight.
That thing packs a punch.
For more on this story with
kind of an interesting twist,
we head over to the
pits and jenny taft.
Well, guys, the saw on sawblaze
might not look like the one
from your woodworking class,
but the physics behind
that lethal weapon
are the same as any chop saw.
[chris] oh! Sawblaze
on the attack.
[jenny] at just 19lbs and
about a 12 inch diameter,
the weapon on sawblaze can produce
the same amount of kinetic energy
as some of the bigger ones
we see in the battlebots .
[chris] oh!
[jenny] but because
of its design,
jamison go's hammer
saw can be just as effective.
It starts with sawblazes
articulated arm,
which is able to land a strike
in just 25 hundredths
of a second.
That's almost twice as fast
as a strike from an
attacking rattlesnake.
And when this weapon connects,
it's half-inch blade
applies force over tiny area.
And since pressure is equal
to force divided by surface area,
that means each strike
imparts a ton of pressure.
Now all forces have an
equal and opposite reaction.
And because the rotation
of the weapon pulls the target
into sawblazes plow,
the plow pushes back,
and this keeps the
opponent stationary.
And like splitting
wood down the centre
versus hitting it from the side,
the combination of forces
ensures the opponent
absorbs the full impact
from the hammer saw.
Helping it even cut through
military grade tank armor.
[chris] son of
whyachi is smoking.
[jenny] and that's why
all though sawblaze
may not be able to launch
bots across the arena,
the damage it can do has the
potential to be even more deadly.
[chris] incredible stuff, jenny.
Between these two weapons and
the mit whiz kids who built them,
there's a lot to love
about this matchup.
It should be a great fight.
Somebody's about to
improve to two and o.
Faruq, let's find out which one.
Ladies and gentleman...
It's robot fighting time!
[audience cheering]
in the blue square,
the engineer is named jamison,
and the whiskey is like his bot.
It'll pound you and chase
you if you're taking a shot.
Try not to whine
when he crushes you.
That happens a lot.
He has a plan to k*ll a bot.
Like it or not, it's sawblaze!
- [audience cheering] -
[intense music playing]
[chris] sawblaze and
jamison go ahead.
May be their most impressive
victory ever in battlebots
when they knocked out whiplash.
This thing is rockin', kenny.
[kenny] jamison just
continues to improve as a driver,
and I love the saw.
But don't forget about
his flame thrower either.
Some serious heat
coming from that thing.
In the red square...
If you think you're a contender,
drop in a quarter.
But just like glass joe
being led to slaughter,
it's going to be body blow,
body blow!
Knocked 'em out,
because other robots punch in,
but they don't punch out.
It's uppercut!
- [rock music playing]
- [audience cheering]
[chris] team uppercut had an
impressive rookie season in 2019.
So the sky's the limit this year,
it seems.
But, kenny,
that's a different weapon
than the one they used
against team gemini.
[kenny] yeah,
this bot has a sharper edge
and is more suited to
pierce into an opponent,
and with a driver like jamison,
they don't think they're
gonna have the chance
to line up a shot like
they did against gemini.
So they're gonna
try to do damage
whenever they can.
Let's bring in our
bot whisperer peter.
All right, pete,
who's got the edge in this one?
[peter] it's difficult to actually
have an edge in this one,
because if sawblaze
gets in front of uppercut,
it's all on uppercut.
If sawblaze gets to
the sides of uppecut,
it's all on sawblaze.
This is going to be a
tough match for both.
It's going to come down to
probably jamison's driving,
if it's gonna be to win, uh...
Or one really good
hit by uppercut.
In the sports cliche world,
we call this a toss up.
There we go.
[audience cheering]
[robot voice] robots, activate.
[chris] well,
it's a story as old as time.
The master and the apprentice.
Will alex hattori solidify uppercut
as a team to beat this season?
Or will jamison go continue
to show that his team
is one of the most dominant
forces in combat robotics?
We'll find out when
we return on battlebots.
[chris] unreal! Look at the
sparks. It's just awesome!
When two bots collide, we know
there are some serious forces at play.
But what specifically
caused all the sparks
during the clash between
valkyrie and rotator?
[kenny] some of these
shots have just been insane.
[jenny] well, both have weapons
made out of a ar500 steel.
This abrasion resistant
material is incredibly strong
and not very malleable.
[kenny] oh! Here's another
big shot from valkyrie!
[jenny] so,
during the collision,
instead of losing big
chunks or getting bent...
[chris] this is some
amazing driving.
[jenny] ... Pieces of
the weapons break off
into microscopic flakes.
And when friction transforms
some of the blade's kinetic
energy into thermal energy,
those fragments of
steel become tender.
[chris] do both these bots have
enough strength to make it the distance?
[jenny] for one of the
greatest light shows,
the battlebots has ever seen.
[chris] unreal!
Think about that when
you're watching this next fight.
[chris] welcome
back to battlebots.
We are here seconds
away from our main event.
Alex hattori's upper kind
is building a reputation
as one of the most powerful
weapons in this competition.
While jamisongo's
sawblaze's already considered
to be a top contender
for the giant nut.
Either way, kenny,
this one's going to be a blast.
[robot voice] red team, ready?
You all ready?
[robot voice] blue team, ready?
[chris] ahhh! The funky chicken.
[kenny] team uppercut
managing to stay loose over there.
[futuristic music playing]
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight,
fight, fight!
[chris] let the
main event begin.
Sawblaze trying to get
around to the side of uppercut.
- [loud clang] - oh!
[indistinct] just putted
sawblaze! Is it out of the arena?
Look at jamison go.
Somehow get back in there.
- [loud bang] - oh my goodness!
My gosh!
[kenny] that was an actual
expl*si*n in the battlebox.
Smooth.
[chris] whoa! That
was unbelievable.
Uppercut continuing
to go to work.
[kenny] this is an
extremely powerful weapon.
[chris] wow.
Oh! Jamison go is drowning,
kenny.
Being picked upon
by his own student.
Oh!
Look at the power as it's
just destroying sawblaze.
Unreal.
[kenny] looks like I should have
had uppercut on my top weapons list.
My bad.
Jamison go and
sawblaze cannot move.
- They're being counted down.
- [referee] ten, nine, eight, seven...
[chris] wow!
[referee] six, five,
four, three, two, one
[chris] unbelievable performance
by the youngsters from mit!
Whoa!
He's a good kid.
[chris] that was
something special.
[kenny] did you feel the heat?
[laughs]
[chris] peter, that expl*si*n
happened right in front of you.
Do you still have
eyebrows? [laughs]
[peter] barely.
That was amazing.
Their whole flame thrower system
was just torn apart by
uppercut in one fell swoop.
Peter, you've been around this
sport for more than two decades.
I can't imagine you've seen something
like that happen too many times.
[peter] no. Usually
everybody's like fuel tanks
or deeply protective.
And that was one
of those moments.
- Wow. - Unbelievable.
This is great!
So what do you think
now of team uppercut?
They have so
advanced in my book.
I mean, that was like... We saw
this kind of damage from monsoon.
We've seen this kind of
damage from tombstone.
I mean, that was serious!
[chris] boy,
uppercut from the get go, kenny.
They had a plan.
They stuck to it.
[kenny] yeah,
and they weren't messing around either.
Jamison go made an
uncharacteristic driving error,
exposing his flank early,
and uppercut shot
them out of a cannon.
Just a perfect strike.
[chris] sawblaze was
a sitting duck after that,
which led to one of
the craziest moments
we've ever seen
inside the battlebox.
Boom! Uppercut ripping into
sawblaze's pressurized tank
and just about singeing the
eyebrows off of the crew's faces.
[kenny] there goes the flames
and the judges almost went with it.
[chris] and once again,
that shot, the expl*si*n.
- Unbelievable picture -[peter]
that was right in front of me.
Nearly k*lled jason bardis.
Boom!
Wow.
Yeah. The judges actually said
they felt the heat from that expl*si*n.
That is crazy.
[chris] ladies and gentlemen,
allow me to reintroduce you
to alex hattori
and team uppercut.
What a moment!
[audience cheering]
alex hattori.
What the heck is it like when you
create a fireball inside the battlebox?
It's terrifying.
- The whole fight was terrifying.
- [laughs]
but a good terrifuing, right?
Yeah,
we stayed spun up the whole time,
so we're really happy
with how that went.
All right, alex,
you saw it in real life.
Now take a look
at the monitor here
and tell us exactly what
your game plan was
when you went after the tank.
So we knew that jamison go was,
he's a fantastic driver
and so we just wanted
to stay away from the wall.
So we spun up the blade,
got to the center of the arena,
so we could try and
not get pinned by him.
[kenny laughs] dude,
how cool is that, though?
Oh, man.
[kenny] that's one of the
most epic hits we've ever seen.
Oh, thank you.
Well, alex, congratulations.
That was an amazing show.
As you guys
improved at two and o.
- Thank you.
- [audience cheering]
jamison go.
You all right?
Oh, yeah. I mean,
I could wish I could say more for the bot.
[laughs]
so what is it like when your
bot turns into a ball of fire?
Oh, you know,
sometimes it happens.
Uh, I'm more impressed
just to see, uh,
see my guy grew up,
you know, alex hattori,
uh,
mentoring him for a long time.
Now, he's doing quite well.
So, cheers to him.
Have you ever been
knocked out like that?
I mean,
that's a powerful weapon, man.
The robot to come closest to
that was probably witch doctor.
Uh,
so that's a new record for us.
And I mean, that's all,
all more power to them.
So, cheers.
Jamison go,
we will see you down the line.
- Take care of your bot.
- Thank you very much.
[audience cheering]
[chris] alex. Very impressive.
When he booted gemini across the box,
we went,
- "okay, that was kind of cool."
- right.
When you knock off sawblaze,
which was the seventh overall seed in 2019,
now you're making
a name for yourself.
Absolutely.
I mean,
I'm sure he got the attention
of every team out there.
Knocking out sawblaze? Wow.
But did you notice
alex's demeanor?
When we just talked to him.
I think he was genuinely sad that
he demolished his buddy's robot.
[chris] yeah,
jamison go and his team
are going to have some
serious repairs to do
after basically having, like a stick
of dynamite go up inside their robot.
Makes for great television,
though,
but what a spectacular finish
to an unforgettable night way.
We kick things off
with a fight for the ages
as valkyrie triumphed over rotator,
moving to two and o.
Rotator, of course,
still winless in the qualifying round.
[kenny] yeah,
two hard-fought losses for victor.
But if he doesn't
win his next fight,
his season could be over.
[chris] madcatter finishes the
qualifiers at a perfect three and o.
They're the first team to
accomplish that feat this season.
Aren hill and tantrum seem
to right the ship tonight.
They moved to one and one,
and are looking like a team
we'll need to keep our eye on.
And we could not have
asked for a better ending.
Uppercut solidifies themselves
as a certified contender
with an expl*si*n big enough
for a michael bay movie.
- Did you have fun tonight?
- I had a blast.
Another good evening around here
for jenny taft and faruq
and our bot whisperer pete.
And my man kenny florian.
I'm chris rose,
and we'll see you next time on battlebots.
[audience cheering]
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05x06 - Battle of the Undefeated
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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.