[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
welcome to battlebots, the world leader in robot fighting action.
To our international viewers, hola, bonjour, and konnichiwa.
And to our robot viewers, a hearty 01001101.
[crowd laughs]
I'm chris rose, joined, as always,
by fight analyst and mma legend,
say hello to kenny florian.
[crowd cheering]
[kenny] chris, thank you so much,
I didn't know you spoke robot, that's so cool.
Yeah, just a little.
I remember from high school and I'm pretty sure
I just asked the pulverizer where the library is.
Anyway, over the years, battlebots has truly become a global phenomenon,
and this year's tournament is no exception.
We've got combatants from across eight countries and five continents.
That's right, chris.
But there's one thing in the battlebots world
that's the same in every language and it's the giant nut.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] let's take a look at the 14 teams hoping to kick start
their championship journey tonight
with that all important first win of the season,
and this group has some serious firepower.
We'll see the serrated slasher cobalt make its return to the battle box.
2020's most destructive bot award winner, valkyrie,
as well as perennial giant nut contender's witchdoctor,
and the unburnable brazilian's black dragon.
It's a who's who of the sport's heaviest hitters.
[kenny] we've also got the return of some exciting veterans.
After taking last season off, hal rucker and the indestructible duck!
Will re-enter the battlebox.
And for the first time since 2018,
grab your earplugs, chris, the combustion king icewave is back in the field.
I'm telling ya, no one could say no to vegas.
[chris] and, of course, all roads lead to tonight's main event
where we will see if the living legend donald hudson
and lock-jaw have the antidote for the vicious bite
of last year's number three seed, copperhead.
[commentator] this fight is over.
[chris] but kicking off tonight's action, we've got a good one.
It's the tank that loves to toss, slammo!
Throwing down with the always electric, hypershock.
Kenny, hypershock led by will bales
is one of the most popular teams in the entire competition,
and while they've given us plenty of memorable moments over the years,
they've yet to put together a memorable season.
[kenny] that's right, this is a team that went toe-to-toe
with bite force in 2015 in the round of 16
and nearly pulled off a magical upset.
Hypershock has all the tools to become a top tier bot.
We'll see if this is the year they take the next step.
[chris] and as for their opponent, slammo!,
they went two and one in the qualifiers last season
lost to eventual semi-finalist black dragon.
This spot, led by craig danby, is looking to make the leap from middle of the pack
to legitimate contenders.
Kenny, you ready to get this thing going?
Let's do this.
Are you guys ready as well?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] I thought so.
Faruq, take it away.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's robot fighting time.
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] in the red square, he came from miami, and he's here to slam thee.
It's hypershock!
[chris] here we go, team hypershock.
Will bales mask's all over the arena.
They love this guy.
Snuck into the tournament last season as the number 32 overall seed.
Kenny, this spot isn't just pretty, it is lethal.
That's if everything is working properly.
[kenny] and that's the biggest if.
But listen, will sounds confident.
He's got a complete squad, as you can see running the high five gantlet.
I'm expecting hypershock to stick and move, stick and move
and wreak some havoc with that dual disc vertical spin.
[crowd cheering]
in the blue square, from raleigh, north carolina,
being in the ring with this spot,
it's all the slammunition it needs.
It's slammo!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] captain craig danby draped in the union jack.
Kenny, slammo! Is built like a brick.
How does it win this fight against hypershock?
[kenny] well, slammo! Is a powerful grappler
that looks to control fights by grabbing, tossing,
and disorienting its opponents.
It needs to be durable enough to survive shock from hypershock.
Ideally, try and break will bales' weapon,
then look to sweep that control category.
[crowd cheering]
we don't want to have a one and done, you know, one hit wonder fight.
We, we want to have a good back and forth with craig.
He has very low forks.
He has lots of little clickety-clackety things.
No doubt he's gonna try to get under us because it's his whole thing.
We have to do our darndest to make sure that doesn't happen.
So, we threw out all the old stuff that wasn't quite right,
and we beefed everything up, put bigger parts in, put better parts in,
and we think it's gonna be a heavy hitter. It's gonna be great.
We are a grabby lift bot and we have covered our robot this year
in anaglyph dazzle camo.
So, if you've got 3d glasses, it's gonna pop.
There's this whole new feature this year called the upper deck.
The plan is to pick up hypershock and throw them on there.
And when they get back off, I'mma throw them back on there again.
I'm coming in for the win.
I'm always coming in for the win.
I'm the sultan of suplex.
That's what I'm here for.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[chris] kenny, look at these two getting into each other's squares,
a little bit of gamesmanship right off the bat.
[kenny] oh, excited for this one, chris.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
All right. We're good. Go for it.
[chris] I guess, that's why he's will bales and not just will "bail."
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[man] I'll hammer, if it's over there.
You got this.
[crowd cheering]
come in.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] some tension on the faces of these captains
both looking to kick off the night
with a crucial first win of the season.
Let the bot battle begin.
Hypershock circling the drain on slammo!,
able to get underneath with those front forks and lands in clean shots.
Woah. Big hit.
[kenny] we are seeing the speed advantage shot right away.
[chris] oh, yeah.
-Keep your arms up. Take him down. -Yeah.
[chris] uh-oh. Hypershock smothering slammo! Here in the opening stretch.
Oh, and now backing it down in the short corner.
Geez! Holy smokes.
[kenny] slammo! Trying to stay squared up when hypershock is too fast.
Oh, no.
Oh, just ran into the fist, here, of will bales.
[chris] and then gets slammed into the rail by will bales,
who's going in for more.
Going in slammo like a lion investigating a kill.
[crowd cheering] hypershock! Hypershock!
[chris] oh, we could have a countdown coming.
Ten...
[chris] and there it is.
Danby never knew what hit him in this match.
Hypershock, too fast and too curious.
...One. And the match's over!
[crowd screaming and cheering]
[chris] kenny, hypershock fast out of the gate, really impressive.
[kenny] they sure were.
They kind of circled around their opponent for a little bit.
Got the angle and then just attacked nonstop, getting underneath them,
hitting them hard from the back,
hitting them hard from the side.
Tremendous driving there from will bales.
[chris] and I thought, really the important thing was hypershock was grounded
the entire fight, sometimes in years past,
we've seen him deliver a shot and then wobbly all over the place.
[kenny] well, I think that's due to the new chassis.
You see, it's a lot wider.
It's a little bit longer.
It's gonna give it better stability.
But again, the speed was there.
Everything was just extremely impressive from that team.
[chris] and I think what we've learned is if you get knocked
into that short corner next to the upper deck,
if you cannot work your way out of there, you're gonna be doa.
[kenny] absolutely. They took full advantage of that.
They cornered their opponent and then took them out.
[chris] will bales.
It did the thing.
You... You have had enough of will bales, the funny guy.
I mean, it's time for people to start taking you and hypershock seriously, huh?
It's nice to have everything working,
although, technically the weapon wasn't "running" at the end,
but it clearly did some damage.
How does it feel to get a win like that, man?
Not only do you get a win, but it was an exciting win,
kind of a... A vintage performance.
It's been a little while.
It's good. It's nice to be back in the groove.
You know, craig and his team are wonderful.
They're a great robot.
Respect them greatly.
But I've got the best team here this year.
[crowd cheering]
when are you gonna dye your hair green like your teammate?
Well, let's see how it goes.
Oh, wait a second.
How about if you get a top 10 seed,
you'll dye your hair in the round of 32?
[crowd cheering]
fine, if we get a top 10 seed in the round of 32,
you can film me dyeing my hair.
Hey, there we go.
Will bales has thrown down the gauntlet.
Congratulations on the fast start.
Thanks, guys. Good to see you again.
[chris] you, too.
[all cheering]
[will] congratulations. We did it.
Whoa, we did it!
[chris] I know it is just one win.
But you heard him.
We made a bet that if he cracks the top 10,
I think we're gonna have to throw a poll out there on social media.
What color should will bales dye his hair
if you have to live up to his end of the bargain?
Yah, but what are you gonna do? You just had him do a bet.
You didn't put yourself on the line.
What are we gonna do to your hair?
I can't come out here with pink hair.
-Well, maybe I can. -I think it will look nice.
-Match your tie. -Oh, nice.
-Here we go. Let's do it. -You know what? I'm in.
If will bales is in, chris rose is in.
-I like it. -Is kenny florian in?
You are unbelievable.
No, but you did the bet. I was just sitting here.
[chris] hey, after a break can p1 motor his way to an early season win?
Or will valkyrie pour sugar in his gas tank?
Find out next on battlebots.
[crowd cheering]
we are back on battlebots.
That is kenny florian, I am chris rose.
Up next, we've got a showdown featuring valkyrie and p1.
Let's start with captain leanne cushing and valkyrie squad.
Last season, they had their most successful run yet in battlebots.
Went all the way to the round of 16 before bowing out against whiplash.
No shame in that.
Kenny, leanne is gaining a reputation for her tactics and her fight iq.
And, oh, yeah, her bot was voted 2020's most destructive as well.
[kenny] that combination is a winning formula.
Valkyrie is so versatile with their primary weapon options.
This team is always playing chess,
looking to counter their opponent.
Tonight, they are squaring off against p1
captained by brandon zelinsky.
Kenny, I thought there were significant improvement
during the 2020 season out of this robot.
[kenny] that's right, this team was very close
to making the tournament last year,
but its wins over smee
and chronos didn't move the dial enough to convince the committee.
But brandon is back this season with a chip on his shoulder
and determined to drive p1 into the winner's circle.
And even though he's facing a highly dangerous opponent here in valkyrie,
p1 has the speed and durability to be a menace out there.
[chris] all right. Should we be on upset alert?
Let's find out and send it over to faruq.
In the red square from somerville, massachusetts,
this bot is here to ragna-rock your world.
It's valkyrie!
[chris] team valkyrie always ready to put on a show.
We talked about their limitless arsenal,
so what weapon are they going with tonight, kenny?
[kenny] they're debuting a new blade.
It's called dr. Acula.
This blade actually has the s7 tooth inserted into the blade
that's gonna do chunky damage to a wedge and especially wheels.
If valkyrie can out drive p1, we should see plenty of metal flying around the box.
[crowd cheering]
in the blue square from hudson, new hampshire,
he'll drape a checkered flag over your closed casting,
it's p1!
[chris] all right, kenny, what's it going to take for p1 to put the sport on notice?
[kenny] well, a win over valkyrie would be a statement for sure.
Brandon's given p1 the full overhaul.
He shortened the chassis, added weight to the wedges,
installed some magnets for stability.
The bot's ready. We'll see if brandon is too.
[crowd cheering] p1! P1! P1! P1!
We're not in the little leagues anymore.
We're fighting a real robot who's a real chance at the nut.
If they go shooting in the air, we're in business.
If not, we're probably gonna have to sit on or under their weapon
as long as possible and just grind away at their weapon to try
and make it thermal shock and fail.
Valkyrie might be looking across the pit and they say,
"oh, these guys have no spinning weapon
just a drive, just a lifter."
they're gonna be in for a surprise tonight.
We've made valkyrie stronger with both our drive
and our speed at which our weapon spins up.
We were able to save some weight
and also get a bit more shoving power
and stay as fast as we were last years.
We're looking to not get flipped
because it's going to put us at a disadvantage
because p1 is lower to the ground than us.
We sit just under a foot tall and they beat us in that,
and I'm really worried that if we're inverted,
we're not gonna have much to do except for try to recover
and figure out a way to flip back over.
[crowd cheering]
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[chris] both teams are locked, loaded,
and looking for an excuse to exchange insurance info.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] here we go.
P1 and valkyrie, an opening win is so crucial.
Who wants it more?
Let the bot battle begin.
P1 under charge against up under valkyrie in a hurry.
[kenny] oh, that's some serious speed there for p1.
-[chris] oh, man. -[kenny] oh.
[chris] oh. P1 not afraid to stick his nose in there...
-[kenny] wow! -[chris] ...But a wheel is off already.
Oh.
[kenny] p1 absorbing some damage here, chris,
but leanne cushing needs to be careful.
P1 is so much lower than valkyrie, getting underneath it at will.
[chris] ah! Look at that gyroscopic force.
Valkyrie just dangling there in the air almost.
Oh, man!
[kenny] brandon zalinsky getting the lifter involved there.
P1 continues to get low ground and use that horizontal spinner's energy
against itself.
[man] oh, now it's on fire.
[chris] that looks like valkyrie is on fire.
It is smoking.
[kenny] and p1 has valkyrie in for it now.
Leanne cushing warned us.
She was worried about the scenario.
[chris] it is spinning out of control.
Has it lost its weapon?
That's the big question, the drive is still working.
[kenny] yep, that fire inside of valkyrie there,
could have been the weapon motor.
[chris] now for p1, does it have its drive intact?
Valkyrie's weapon not working
and it's taking a shot from the pulverizer.
[kenny] some friendly fire there, chris.
That was valkyrie's pulverizer.
[chris] oh, another one.
[leanne] just go back. Just go back. Just, no.
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop!
[chris] okay, seems like there's some serious chaos on team valkyrie's side
of the driver's deck.
[kenny] I think, they were trying to flip valkyrie
right side up using the pulverizer.
Risky.
[chris] labeled the most destructive bot a season ago,
but right now, the weapon is not active.
The drive isn't working entirely.
Major frustration for valkyrie.
[referee] valkyrie, you got to show me controlled movement.
[chris] you hear the ref issuing a warning to valkyrie there.
Remember p1 as it continues to engage that can have an effect on engines
ending the fight and stopping a countdown, kenny,
but p1's drive not looking all that hot at the moment, either.
[kenny] I think it's showing more movement than valkyrie here.
Brandon zalinsky continuing to engage.
I think it's struggling because of that lack of wheel on that left backside
[chris] fifteen seconds left to go.
And there's p1 showing it still has function in that lifter.
[kenny] this would be a huge upset if p1
is able to get it done against valkyrie.
[chris] remember, they were big time underdogs coming into this fight.
Oh, my... Oh, my god, we did it!
Oh, my god.
[chris] team p1 thinks they've got the w,
but this one is going to the judges.
All three are former battlebots participants.
Derek young, jason bardis, lisa winter.
Once again, it's an 11-point scoring system for the battlebots judges.
They could award up to five points in the damage category,
three for aggression and three for control.
So, kenny, how did you see it play out?
[kenny] well, leanne told us she was worried about p1
getting underneath her robot and boy, was she right?
Because that proved to be valkyrie's kryptonite in this match.
P1 used its speed and low profile to repeatedly upend valkyrie
and dictate the action.
[chris] p1 did suffer some damage in the process, though, losing a wheel
and taking a flurry of shots to its lifter and top armor.
But eventually, it was able to break valkyrie's weapon,
which was brandon zalinsky's goal from the very start.
[kenny] that's right, and that's where things could get interesting
because the most heavily weighted category in the damage column
is damage done by a primary weapon.
You can argue that valkyrie scored points with its spinner,
while p1 did most of his dirty work with its wedge.
But in terms of the eye test, valkyrie flying around the box, the fire
it suffered halfway through,
you have to imagine p1 has the leg up here.
[chris] both bots are a little punch-drunk
as the final seconds ticked away.
Faruq has the results.
Let's see which way the judges chose to go.
The results from the judges are in.
[crowd cheering]
the winner by unanimous decision is...
[woman in crowd] p1.
P1!
[chris] all right, then, there it is.
You can see the excitement and the relief on the faces of team p1,
that was a gutsy effort. Their bot's a little worse for wear,
but in the end, the judges awarded the unanimous decision
and they have the coveted 1-0 start to their season.
All right, coming up next, it's the battle bots debut of the rookie riptide.
And there's its opponent, hard to miss inside the test box,
it's huge.
Stick around for the fight.
Next on battlebots.
We continue on with battlebots.
Next up on the fight card,
it's huge versus riptide. In a field widely considered to be the most stacked
and most dangerous in battlebots ' history,
it's an intimidating time to be a rookie.
Just ask switchback, who we saw take the l on opening night.
Historically, new captains struggle to break into the tournament,
let alone make it past the round of 32.
But young captain ethan kurtz is out to prove that he and his bot, riptide, belong.
[ethan] is that bolt tight?
[indistinct chatter]
my name is ethan kurtz. I am the captain of riptide.
Riptide is a egg beater spinner.
We've been heavily inspired by yeti.
We love yeti's lifters and we also love that yeti had a very long, wide drum.
We want a huge spinner putting out all the mass on the weapon as possible
for the best energy transfer.
And that's how riptide, kind of, was formed.
Our biggest strength is our 55-pound drum
that spins at 190 miles per hour plus.
We launched a 20 pound medicine ball, 200 feet in air.
We've launched a 300-pound tire 10 foot into the air.
We're just a fan of big effing weapons.
For a rookie team, we are all really stoked to get in the battlebots
because we really wanted to be here.
We all kind of knew each other from the vex robotics competition.
We all wanted to do something together.
Battlebots was the hardest thing we could think of.
My father is on the team.
He's experienced with, like, radios and rc planes in the old days,
so he knows how to troubleshoot things,
he's been really, really helpful.
Being captain, absolutely thrilled, and this is a lifelong dream.
I'm just really, really excited.
I just wanna get out there and hit something.
[chris] riptide now just moments away from making its debut
on the big stage.
And when ethan found out that he was gonna be on battlebots,
he said it was a dream come true.
But he may be facing a welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment here
as he takes on huge, captained by, a very motivated, jonathan schultz.
He's coming off a rather disappointing
and often frustrating 2020 season,
but this is still a very dangerous robot, kenny.
[kenny] that's right. And, you know, the interesting thing
for me here is that just a short time ago,
it was huge that was the untested rookie
with something to prove.
But after three seasons, this robot has been around the block.
They know what it takes to win.
And I think the team's experience should be the difference maker
in this match up.
Faruq, take it away.
[crowd cheering]
in the red square, from south windsor, connecticut,
the bot's so big, it gave shaquille o'neal nightmares.
It's huge!
[chris] all right. Here we go.
The iconic big wheels of huge.
Kenny, will this be the year huge puts it all together and makes a deep run?
[kenny] well, listen, jonathan tells us the motor on the weapon
is twice as powerful, much more reliable.
He's ready to put last season behind him,
and he's gotta love this matchup.
Riptide is low to the ground and right in the sweet spot for huge's weapon.
In the blue square, from tarzana, california,
keep out, this water is not fine at all.
It's riptide!
[chris] and there we get our first live look at riptide.
You can see the overall excitement from this squad.
Ethan told us, he didn't sleep a wink last night.
So, the question here is can he shake off the nerves
and steal a win, kenny?
[kenny] hey, anything is possible.
They've added a wedge to try and mitigate some big hits.
And riptide has that egg beater style weapon that spins up quickly.
This is a bot designed for aggression.
The big question, will ethan hesitate
or will he put the pedal to the metal?
Against huge,
our strategy is just to be full aggressive, full on yeti pounding.
We're thinking that we could spin up faster than them,
box rush them and keep them from actually spinning up their weapon.
The only thing that we could really hit and actually, you know,
grab into is their weapon.
Their wheel is ably, and they're really hard to get bite on.
When we first learned that we're going against huge,
we're like, "this is our counter, why huge?"
but we're gonna do our best and we're gonna give it our all,
and it's gonna be a great fight.
He's the type of robot that we think we like to fight.
He's very low, his weapon's pretty low,
and we know that it's gonna take a lot of work for him
to really get high enough to actually damage
some of the more important parts of our robot.
I like the chances, but I'm never gonna say, we're gonna win a fight.
We want this season to go well because we want it to show that
last season was a fluke for us and get back to the level of performance that we used to.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] big test for the rookie here, kenny.
[kenny] hey, no pressure, right?
Just your battlebots debut against huge in front of a pumped up vegas crowd.
Let it ride, riptide.
[crowd applauding]
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
And, oh, the box rush by the rookie, getting under huge.
Oh! My goodness.
Let's go!
[chris] a ridiculous shot by riptide.
And now pushing huge into the screws as well.
[kenny] oh, I think, he wedged him in there, chris.
[chris] is huge stuck?
The little screw should actually reverse--
[referee] I gotta see him get out.
[kenny] it should, but jonathan schultz is getting a warning from the ref.
And I'm not sure, he can get out of there without some help, chris.
And now look at this, riptide is leaning on those big wheels
and there goes the screws.
Can huge escape?
[referee] ten seconds, back off.
[chris] wow!
The ref instructing ethan kurtz to stop corralling and get out of there, kid.
Huge just floundering. Those plastic wheels,
they can't get any traction.
And here comes the countdown!
Huge just has a few seconds left to get out of there.
- Can he do it? -[referee] ...Five, four...
-[chris] it's so close. -Three...
...Two, one. That's a knock out.
[chris] that is a knock out. The rookie riptide.
What a huge upset.
[chris] kenny, talk about a rookie making a statement out of the gate?
[kenny] yeah, this was unbelievable.
I mean, the knockout shot basically,
happened right at the start, got some chips off of huge.
Look at that shot.
I mean, that is some serious power right there.
[chris] and ethan kurtz followed it up by pushing huge into the screws,
that big old uhmw wheel got hung up and that was all she wrote.
Riptide with the upset.
[chris] ethan, can you hear us?
I hear you. Yeah!
I just killed my throat.
Ethan, what is pumping through your veins right now, my man?
Our weapon is freaking powerful.
That's what's running through my veins!
Is this better than you could have dreamt?
Oh, yeah, we thought they were just gonna spin down and smash our weapon to bits.
We did not actually expect them to spin up towards us,
which is actually, exactly, what we wanted.
We didn't think they were going to do that.
-Hey, ethan, I know you're a rookie-- -yeah.
...And you've only had a minute's worth of fight in battlebots,
but are you a contender?
Yes.
Hell, yes.
Hey, you're your pop stan is behind you, bring him up here.
-Bring pops up here. Hey, stan. -Yeah.
How proud are you of your son?
I couldn't be more proud. This is, it's amazing.
He's a, he's an amazing guy and it's just amazing to see him do this
and perform like this at battlebots . Amazing.
Did you almost shed a tear?
Ah, I'm about to now that you're asking.
During the fight, absolutely not.
All right. Well, guys, congratulations on your first ever battlebots victory.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] an incredible debut from the new master of hype, ethan kurtz.
And if you're jonathan schultz, you just chalk it up to,
kind of, bad luck that you got stuck back there.
I mean, really, he wanted at least two or a full three minutes
in order to gauge how this bot was going to run in 2021.
[kenny] yeah, what an unfortunate start for huge,
especially coming off such a disappointing season.
This has to be frustrating for jonathan schultz, but listen,
all you could do is shake it off
and we'll see what this team is made of as the season rolls on.
Credit to riptide.
That's a big-time win.
Good job, rook. Good job.
Coming up next, can fusion fuse his saw with his opponent's face
or will cobalt steal himself a victory?
And later, in our main event, a lot of vegas gamblers would call these two bots
odds-on favorites for a top seed in this year's tournament.
It's copperhead and lock-jaw exchanging bites tonight.
[donald hutson] they're gonna be a very tough battle for me.
It's gonna be much more of a bloodbath.
I don't think, he's gonna, wanna go weapon to weapon.
That's what we're gonna want to do.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] we continue here on battlebots.
And up next, cobalt makes its return to the battlebots
against none other than reese ewert and fusion.
And there he is, the youngest member of the famed ewert clan,
the first family of robot combat,
working on, what is a technologically,
ambitious fusion with its dual primary weapons.
Reese, obviously, has a lot of outside pressure on him.
The expectations of the family name,
being overshadowed by his older brother, jake and hydra,
last year's number one tournament seed.
But leaving all that legacy talk aside,
reese is running a bot that just hasn't been able
to string together successful fights.
Last season, I called it the fusion confusion.
It seemed, like, I didn't know what was, what it wanted to do.
When it worked, it looked promising.
When it didn't, well, it basically exploded.
And that inconsistency left a bitter taste in reese's mouth.
In the off season, he shipped out the bot speed controllers
to the manufacturer, hoping to put an end to the fire issue.
But the jury's out on whether it's been resolved.
That unpredictability causes a lot of stress.
But as we know, if he can get the technical issues under control,
this bot has the ability to hang with the best.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] you know, there's a whole lot of talent in the ewert gene pool.
Fusion, certainly a bot to keep your eye on in 2021,
especially, if they can take down a very tough opening opponent.
So, listen, I need you to humor me
and follow along with this story of cobalt.
It used to be owned by a pair of brits, dave moulds, sam smith,
they both recently became fathers.
Congratulations, by the way.
That means they couldn't be here.
So, what they did is they sold cobalt to john mladenik.
He, of course, is the captain of gigabyte.
He's got his own robot to run.
So, he called his buddy, brent rieker,
who used to be on team gigabyte.
He said, "sure, I'm not gonna drive the thing, though".
So, they got their buddy matt maxham.
He's gonna drive cobalt, who's been so excited about this robot.
He's called john mladenik, who once again is the captain of gigabyte,
and he said, "I'm so excited.
I'm so excited about this robot."
you probably don't understand it.
All you need to know is this is one bad bot.
[kenny] yeah, chris, cobalt is vicious.
I still remember it ripping the face off of duck!
A few years ago.
One way or another, the vast majority of its fights
have ended in a knockout.
It's had a ton of international success.
And many consider this to be a top five bot in the world.
With a driver like matt maxham at the controls,
cobalt's saw-like vertical spinner has horror show potential.
It's an absolute killer.
Can't wait to see what it does.
It's all coming your way right now, faruq.
[crowd cheering]
in the red square from pleasant garden, north carolina,
he came, he saw, he sawed.
It's cobalt!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] the mad man, matt maxham, pushing in cobalt there,
making its return to battlebots.
This team, awfully eager to get a fight under their belt
with this robot, kenny.
[kenny] that's right. And they wanna bring cobalt back with a bang.
You can see it has that compact design,
and the vertical spinner has some nasty edges.
And for this fight, they've welded on a central fork to try
and jam up fusion's weapons that could be a difference maker.
In the blue square from dorchester, wisconsin,
the ambidextrous assassin, it's fusion!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] wow, a lot of fusion fans in the house.
Reese says, he's gunning for the giant nut this year.
But fusion simply has to get out of its own way, kenny.
[kenny] they think they've got the flameout's handle,
but the paranoia is still very real.
I've always said, if they can stay alive
and keep both of those primary weapons active,
this is one of the most dangerous bots in the game today.
[chris] well, I've got a fire extinguisher under our desk, just in case.
We're a little bit cautious about this one.
You can prepare for a horizontal spinner
or you can prepare for a vertical spinner.
But they're both.
It's harder to prepare for somebody that can,
that can attack you in two different ways.
The strategy is not to get caught in the corner.
If we can keep them from getting under us,
I think we can win this fight.
I am incredibly tired of losing for team whyachi.
Matt is a pretty good driver.
He's... He's a veteran.
He's been around for 23 years.
He's currently working on a contraption in the welding tent to try
and beat my horizontal.
He leaves me no option but to go at him with the vert,
get him flipped over and then tailwhip him
with my... My horizontal and rip into him.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] listen to this crowd, they are ready for a brawl.
Will reese ewert add another chapter to the storied history
of the whyachi clan?
Or will cobalt throw the book in a blender?
The fight when battlebots continues.
[chris] we are right back into the action here on battlebots.
Fusion and cobalt are on a collision course inside the box.
Both teams hyper-focused on getting their first victory.
Matt maxham on the sticks for cobalt, reese ewert for fusion,
game faces securely on.
[kenny] yeah, chris, I don't think these two smile in family photos.
Couple of warriors here.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] you think matt's tensed now?
You gotta see him do his taxes.
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Slow and steady, out of the square.
Oh, nice pop by fusion with the vertical spinner.
The weapon to weapon hit. Oh, fusion by fusion.
[kenny] oh, gosh, does cobalt wants a war?
[chris] yes, it does.
[kenny] matt maxham is just throwing cobalt
into that vertical spinner on fusion, chris.
So far, it's cobalt getting the worst of these exchanges.
[chris] another big shot delivered by reese ewert,
whose bot has yet to catch on fire, kenny.
I call that a massive progress.
-[kenny] whoa! -[chris] whoa!
Uh-oh! But how long can fusion keep this up?
[chris] I guess there's your answer.
Geez!
I keep waiting for fusion to go up in flames,
but it is looking rock solid here, kenny.
Wow!
[kenny] oh!
[chris] oh, cobalt's flopping around like a fish, and it has come to a dead stop.
[kenny] fusion has ripped the front of cobalt to shreds.
Look at that damage.
[referee] ten, nine--
[kenny] and here comes the countdown.
[referee] ...Eight, seven.
[kenny] a frustrated matt maxham can only watch
as fusion will celebrate its victory.
[referee] ...Two, one. That's a knock out.
You did good.
We just couldn't get under it.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, after a rookie season plagued by technical issues,
reese ewert comes out here tonight,
runs both of fusion's weapons for the entire match and absolutely dominates.
[kenny] seems like they got it all figured out this season.
My goodness, that thing was hitting so hard.
Look at that.
[chris] and, kenny, on the flip side of things,
matt maxham seemed determined to send cobalt right at fusion
and settle things weapon to weapon.
Do you think that was a good strategy?
[kenny] well, no, not after those first few impacts.
I actually think the extension they added to cobalt's front wedge,
prevented it from winning those exchanges,
but matt kept on mashing the controls and begging for more contact.
Be careful what you wish for, I guess.
[chris] hey, yeah, reese, bring the whole clan in, why not?
That's the way fusion is supposed to work, right?
That's how it's supposed to work.
I think we got that confusion figured out.
[kenny and chris laughing]
he said that, it wasn't me, I swear.
That was kenny, by the way that said it.
I'll hold that against you for quite a while.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, you got it all figured out, man.
That thing was hitting and hitting hard.
And guess what?
You didn't burn up.
That's right. That's the best thing, uh.
That's all you can ask for, really, it's not burning up.
You seem calm, cool and collected.
Were you this confident heading into this fight?
Eh...
I've seen some fires testing at home before we came here,
but I did some tuning on it and I was the most confident I've ever been in that.
-So. -[chris] wow.
Hey, reese, through one fight this season,
you have a better record than your older brother.
-What's that mean to you? -That's right.
Yeah, I'd like to welcome jake back to battlebots this year.
I think he deserves an award.
Um, you know, being the most hated man on television at a time
when donald trump was on television.
All right, reese, those improv classes you took
during the off season are really paying off.
-Thank you. -All right, dude.
Congratulations. Job well done.
[kenny laughs] he's so good.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] all right, we started off this fight kind of poking fun
at resee ewert and fusion, by the way,
that was you that he was upset with, not me.
I almost forgot.
Yeah, but it was nice to not see the bot catch on fire
and to do what it was supposed to do.
[kenny] that's right. Listen, they had high hopes for it last season.
They were hoping that it would do just that.
Um, but again, when you're bringing in new technology,
it could take a little bit of time.
It's all coming together right now for them.
All right. So, are you backpedaling a little bit? Are you trying to step off
what you were saying earlier?
I'm on team fusion now. No, no confusion.
I'm on, I'm on team fusion.
You just want some of the proceeds from the t-shirt sales.
That's all.
Coming up next, will black dragon be too hot to handle
or will icewave be too cold to hold?
And later tonight in our monster main event,
copperhead will collide with lock-jaw.
There's captain donald hutson and--
oh, hey, get a little snake bite.
Donald's doing all the foreshadowing for us as he gears up for his bout
with last season's number three overall seed.
The sparks keep flying when we return on battlebots.
We are back on battlebots and up next, we welcome back one of the four semi-finalists
from the 2020 season, black dragon, now captained by gabriel maia.
How tough is this robot?
Last season in one of its fights,
it was on fire for two minutes and won the match.
[announcer] black dragon.
[chris] that is one nasty bot.
[kenny] and, chris, we saw their fellow countrymen, minotaur,
survive an inferno on opening night.
There's something in the water in brazil.
They're building bots as durable as they come.
Uh, it's been a while since we've seen icewave in full-time competition.
Last year, they participated just as a bounty finalist.
So, marc devidts, welcome back for the first time since 2018.
Kenny, some might call icewave past its prime.
I ain't one of them.
No one looks forward to fighting this robot.
[kenny] it can still chop through concrete.
So yeah, I'd be a little hesitant, too.
Listen, this bot is from another era and in many respects,
the sport has technologically caught up
and even flown right past them,
but just like any legend in the twilight of their career,
ice wave has a wealth of experience on its side to its credit,
mark has rebuilt icewave from the ground up
and the dude's a robot wizard, so I am not sleeping on this bot.
Let's send it over to faruq.
[crowd cheering]
in the red square, this bot is a brazilian sporting legend like pele.
He's always down for the rumble, always up for the melee.
He gets a kick out of torturing you
and taking your soul and winning the giant nut is his only team's
goal!
It's black dragon!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] oh, yeah.
You hear the crowd, black dragon won over a lot of fans last season
with that unforgettable quarterfinal win over ribbot
and now a brand-new captain is soaking it all in.
[kenny] that's right, gabriel maia now at the helm
and he's got his eyes on the finals this season.
Black dragon has a ton of wedge combinations and of course,
that heavy egg beater drum.
In the blue square, facing off with this bot, that's the path you've chosen?
This thing's so cold, it's practically frozen.
But there's no anna or elsa or olaf on this show
when he holds your life in his hands and decides to let it go.
Give it up for icewave!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] marc devidts, ah, carrying his little daughter with him.
Truly a family affair.
Kenny, icewave is like a car, like same car, but newer model.
This thing looks pretty cool.
[kenny] no doubt, very slick.
Looks brand new, but there's a couple of familiar things
that deadly 54-pound blade that spins 200 miles an hour
and icewave still roars.
It's a pleasure to face icewave.
Uh, as you said, it's a legend and one of the most destructive ones ever.
I will run after icewave.
I'll go search for him.
I'll not let them, uh, accelerate, spin up the bar, so I'll keep pushing
and I'll try to get the center of the arena so I don't get into surprises.
It's a little intimidating, coming in,
having not fought for a few years in the full tournament,
then getting thrown up against one of the best teams from last year.
I'm worried about a head-to-head hit with their weapon against ours
because I think ours won't fare so well.
Theirs is really thick.
That's going to start chipping pieces off of our blade.
But if we can hit anywhere else, I think we'll be good.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[chris] black dragon looking menacing inside the box
and now they've got a chance to shut down an icon in icewave.
For more on icewave, let's check in with former editor,
current analyst and forever genius,
the bot whisperer, pete abrahamson.
All right, pete, tell us what separates icewave
from the other robots out there?
Well, the biggest deal is hidden underneath that box.
What's under there is an internal combustion engine
taken out of an emergency rescue zone.
Now, a few seasons back, they were using the actual whole saw
and all pieces to it.
Now, what they've done, over the years as it's evolved,
and the only thing left is this cylinder head.
All the rest of this has been completely re-machined
and redesigned to be a far more efficient,
easier to start, more reliable, icewave.
[chris] thank you, pete.
So that's what's under the hood.
And kenny, I love hearing the sound that this thing makes
when it starts cranking up.
[kenny] yeah, it is a very intimidating sound, for sure.
[man 1] all right, here we go.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[chris] all right, nice moves from the brazilians.
This team's already in the groove.
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
And here's the black dragon delivering his shot to icewave.
[kenny] what a dangerous start to this fight. My goodness.
Black dragon smothering icewave now, taking it for a ride.
Wow!
And this is big time trouble for mark devidts's icewave.
Its engine is roaring, kenny, and there is no action, whatsoever from that blade.
[woman 2] our parts are rippin'.
[man] the chain or belt or something.
[kenny] yeah, I think black dragon may have knocked icewave's weapon
out of commission in that first exchange, chris.
And the brazilians are not backing down.
They want to finish the job.
[chris] nice putt there as black dragon drives icewave into the short corner.
Can mark devidts find a way to turn the tide?
Oh!
Another shot from black dragon and now the pulverizer
adding insult to injury as well.
[kenny] icewave is drowning, chris.
[referee] ten, nine...
[chris] the referees agree, and the countdown has officially started.
[referee] ...Six, five.
[chris] yeah, their primary weapon has been shut down
and the robot has been shut out.
[referee] ...One! That's a knock out!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] black dragon, fast out of the gate here in 2021.
Kenny, when a box rush goes your direction, man,
it can totally change a fight.
[kenny] yeah, that's right. Black dragon wasted no time going right at icewave
and they just never let up getting underneath them there,
take 'em for a ride around the battlebox,
getting them to slam into walls
and it was pretty much all black dragon here.
[chris] well, icewave's blade huffed and it puffed,
but it just wouldn't start up again.
[kenny] that's right, black dragon basically broke icewave's arms
in the first 10 seconds of a would be fist fight,
then left it huddled in the corner.
Brutal.
[chris] and there's the pulverizer exclamation point
on a dominant performance by the brazilians.
[crowd cheering]
thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you.
Well, kenny, that is a statement by a semi-finalist
from the 2020 season.
This black dragon squad is a lot of fun to watch.
The crowd loves them.
They got cool dance moves and they just said,
"sorry to spoil your big-time return, icewave, but remember us?
We're back!"
[kenny] and for icewave.
You took your licks.
Now, it's all about bouncing back.
[chris] coming up, the quack is back.
Hal rucker and duck! Return to the box
for a matchup with 2019 runner up,
witch doctor.
That's next on battlebots.
We are back on battlebots
and we've got a spicy one for you.
Kenny, let's start with witch doctor and andrea and mike gellatly.
They admitted that after they finished runner up in 2019,
they were feeling the pressure in 2020
and it kind of showed. One in two during the regular season
worked their way into the round of 32 where they won a match,
but they bowed out in the round of 16.
They said, this year, nobody's gunning for us.
I ain't buying that, kenny, are you?
Neither am I. They're a legendary team.
They've been around for a long time.
They're very well respected. They are always dangerous.
And listen, despite being an old school bot,
witch doctor has adapted and evolved with the sport
and the results speak for themselves.
They were a title favorite and every team will keep a close eye on them.
[quacking sound]
[chris] and that includes duck! Engineered by hal rucker.
He's looking to shake off the ring rust and as he told us,
he's not sure if a defensive-minded bot can keep pace
with this year's deadly line-up.
I'll tell you what, if I'm facing a bump like witch doctor,
I want to be very defensively sound.
That's what hal rucker and duck!
Are all about is don't die, survive, be more durable.
And as you can see, they've got the new duck! Bill lifter.
Hal wants to control this fight and use the lifter,
both to mitigate heavy weapon shots
and to hopefully, put witch doctor
in some precarious spots inside the box.
[chris] it's going to be a battle.
Faruq, take it away.
[faruq] in the red square.
It wasn't dr. Kevorkian and it wasn't dr. Seuss.
When you ask me who the killer is, you have to tell the truth.
It wasn't dr. Zhivago or dr. Frasier crane
when they ask, "witch doctor killed you?"
say, yep, mm-hmm.
That's the name, it's witch doctor!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] oh, a standing ovation for the 2019 runner up
andera and mike gellatly and team witch doctor.
The people still love them.
And, kenny, it's hard not to expect big things from this robot.
They are always in final boss mode.
[kenny] that's right, even last season,
they followed an early tournament exit up with a spectacular bounty win.
This team is unrelentingly aggressive
and mike's one of the best drivers in this sport.
[faruq] in the blue square,
brace yourself, y'all, it's about to get spooky.
This thing is a murderer, something straight out of a movie.
Imagine a scene, you wake up in a dark room, mouth taped shut.
You can feel the impending doom.
Suddenly, the killer's behind you.
You feel his breath on your back
and you know your day when you hear the... Quack.
Give it up for duck!.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] duck!, a fan favorite as well,
participating for the first time since the 2019 season.
Listen to the crowd.
[kenny] and look at those forks on duck!.
Chris, we know we won't get a lot of offense out of duck!
But hal is a master of, what I call, the ugly fight.
He wants to take witch doctor's best shots like he's rocky balboa
and score enough points with the judges to steal a victory.
Uh, we've made some pretty big changes
to our weapons system this year.
We switched to a different material,
uh, for the discs, to get away from the issue we had last year,
we've made some changes to the weapon motors,
so we'll have to see if that's reliable.
So, this is going to be a really big test.
And really important for us to win this first match.
We noticed that they have some really, really big forks on the robot.
We're not going to be able to outfork them,
so, we've actually decided not to use the ground scraping forks.
And we're going to use maneuverability to our advantage.
Hopefully, they're not used to driving with their forks
and they get a little bit hung up and that's just the opening we need.
This year's version of duck! Is completely new.
Uh, it's 100 percent brushless motors.
Uh, we got rid of the plow that we had last year
and we now have a lifter that works like a real duckbill.
In previous seasons, we've been known as the robot that's hard to kill.
We just keep going.
We've had our weapon ripped off
and eventually, won the match because we just endured.
We've kept that durability.
That's our main feature.
We're hard to kill.
I think we might have a shot.
[crowd cheering]
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] the immovable object, duck!
The unstoppable force, witch doctor,
here we go.
Let the bot battle begin!
Nice and easy, out of the squares,
witch doctor's weapon up to full speed.
[kenny] oh!
[chris] oh, witch doctor lands a shot,
it rips the fork clean off of duck! That was impressive.
[kenny] that was a beautiful hit there by witch doctor.
It's trying to go after the other one, chris.
[chris] witch doctor scores some serious damage points and there's another shot.
[kenny] mike gellatly all over duck!
Here in the early going.
[chris] nothing like a delicious appetizer of duck! Tires.
[crowd gasping] oh.
Witch doctor punches duck! Across the box.
And there's hal rucker with a counter shot straight to the weapon
of witch doctor.
[kenny] in seasons past, we've referred to duck!'s strategy
as "break your fist with my face,"
and that's hal rucker's path to success here again.
He just wants to dirty up this fight.
[chris] and speak of the devil, kenny,
it looks like witch doctor's primary weapon
is creeping to a stop. Has duck! Done it?
[kenny] it looks like it may have,
and that is bad news for witch doctor, chris.
This is exactly what hal rucker was looking for.
[chris] okay, so a minute into this fight
and duck! Has flipped the script here.
It can now go to work without fear of getting chewed up
by witch doctor's main weapon.
[kenny] yeah, and it's turning into a pushing match right now, chris.
They've come down to who the more powerful bot is.
[chris] you see it there, the bots lock horns.
And how about this, duck! Driving witch doctor
into the screws of the upper deck?
Witch doctor is like, "hey back off me, pal or hal."
hal rucker's duck!, showing some effective control in this sequence
that will count big time.
[kenny] this is going to come down to a battle of the drivetrains
of these two robots, chris, which one is going to exert its grill on the other
and control the action from here on out.
[chris] witch doctor has now gone about a minute without its weapon.
So now trying to win the ground game
and utilize the battlebox to its advantage?
[kenny] oh, nice strike by witch doctor with the pulverizer.
Oh, another.
[chris] those shots from the hazards are so important
in fights like these where the bots are grinding it out
and trying to show every bit of control that they can, kenny florian.
[kenny] and that can help as far as damage as well.
I'm impressed that with just one fork, their duck!
Is still able to get underneath witch doctor.
But look at that, that's what I'm talking about the power in that drivetrain
from witch doctor. They said they're gonna be more powerful
and you could see it straight away.
[chris] thirty seconds remaining in this one,
precious time to score a knockout
or impress the judges is ticking away.
[kenny] witch doctor has really turned it on here down the stretch, chris.
They are the faster robot, the more powerful robot putting duck!
On its heels now pushing them around the battlebox.
[chris] under ten to go. This one is going to the judges,
witch doctor bidding duck! To close out the action.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny, duck! Lives up to its reputation
and goes a full three minutes with one of the games heaviest hitters.
[kenny] the duck! Don't die.
The judges might like it, chris.
[chris] and we'll have the decision after a break, here on battlebots.
[chris] we are back on battlebots
and as the judges tally up their scorecards after a three minute slugfest
between witch doctor and the mighty duck!,
let's take a look at the replay.
[chris] kenny early on, witch doctor had everything working,
[kenny] yeah, which doctor came out on fire
ripping that front fork off of duck!
Following it up with some huge hits and racking up damage points.
But right here out-countered with a beautifully placed shot
right into witch doctor's weapon and shut it down.
[chris] and from there it became the kind of ugly duckling fight
duck! Was looking for.
[kenny] that's right, we had a pushing match on our hands.
Duck! Stayed aggressive and did its best to capitalize, but for me,
it was witch doctor that proved to be the bigger bully
utilizing, what looked like, a superior drivetrain down the stretch,
duck! Never could get its lifter in the mix and mount an offensive,
and witch doctor seized control of the fight.
[chris] let's see what the judges thought.
Here is faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
[crowd cheering]
the winner by unanimous decision is...
Witch doctor!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] andrea and mike, I hate to break up the love fest over there,
but for the first minute it looked like witch doctor
did exactly what you wanted it to do.
Am I right, andrea?
Absolutely.
Our number one objective was not to break those weapon disks.
And duck! Is a tough robot to go up against, especially as our first match.
So I'm really excited, once the weapon started slowing down...
Obviously, we don't want to see that,
but I knew something was wrong, so I actually shut it off
because I thought it would look worse to the judges
to see smoke than just a weapon turned off.
So I don't know if that had an effect or not,
but we were really prepared for a judge's decision with duck!
Because you just can't ko him.
You guys showed your experience right there.
What was the strategy, it seemed like you were going
for the forks early as well?
Yeah, I mean, that's obviously, duck!'s strategy
to get under us with his fork.
So and they're nice and long and nice and tall,
so we're hoping we'd be able to disable those.
And, you know, obviously he's got three other nice,
chewy sides that we were going for,
but the weapon only lasted about a minute.
So, we weren't able to really get a ton of hits on him.
But what we did, I think, looked pretty good.
Andrea, you are a fan favorite.
Your fans want to know, is this a robot that can win the giant nut?
[crowd cheering]
I couldn't hear the question.
Over the clapping.
Well, that's what happens, you're so popular,
you can't even hear. I asked...
[crowd cheering]
see, they still love you, they love you.
Your fans want to know, is this robot reliable enough to win the giant nut?
You know, teething issues is not new for our team.
We are experts at recovering, and duck!
Is as much of a fan favorite as we are.
So I know either way, this match went, we were letting some people down,
but we feel a lot of pressure to our fans to not let them down this year.
Stay classy, witch doctor.
You're off to 1-0 start. Congratulations.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, this one ends up closer than expected,
but witch doctor is in the win column.
And for hal rucker and duck! A tough loss,
but great to see them back inside the box
and making a top team earn every points.
Okay, folks, we have arrived.
Up next, our main event of the evening,
the venomous vehicle copperhead,
now under new captains kimberly and robert cowan,
takes on lock-jaw led by battlebots og donald hutson.
[faruq] it's lock-jaw!
Coming back to battlebots after all these years...
[chris] donald hutson, the legend.
[donald] ...It still makes me nervous,
kind of gives a little shortness of breath.
You can just hear the sound of that beep, beep, beep.
And your blood pressure goes up.
All of a sudden, it's all gone.
It's all quiet.
All you think about is driving the robot.
And so, try and take 'em out.
[chris] whoa!
What a shot.
This is going to be a tough, tough tournament.
[chris] oh, no mercy from lock-jaw.
[donald] we're gonna have to fight for this championship
there's no doubt.
[faruq] it's copperhead.
Last year was a good season until it wasn't.
First three fights, we had some good knockouts.
[chris] oh, what a shot.
An unbelievable performance by copperhead.
And then going into the finals, we just kind of lost it.
[chris] this is a monumental upset.
[robert] we've always been plagued with drive issues,
so we completely stripped out the drive, rebuilt the drive.
We have this frame that's one inch thick, hard aux, but then inside,
it's all really modern brushless technology and very high tech stuff.
This year, things are gonna go a lot better.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
Going into our fight against lock-jaw,
what we're really looking to do is try and out-drive them,
and that is obviously a very tall task
because it's donald hutson, the legend.
[chris] unbelievable,
the driving by donald hutson.
He is ruthless.
Bot to bot, I think, ultimately,
we do have a better bot than he has.
But we're gonna have to be on our game.
I think, I have a more powerful weapon that spins up a lot faster.
We're gonna try and out drive them
and just get a couple of quick hits.
[chris] oh, look at that!
Our strategy... Smash.
We want to use that weapon as much as possible.
[chris] oh, my goodness.
The new box configuration is just kind of squeezed us all down.
There's places to be trapped, there's places to be stuck.
It's gonna be much more of a bloodbath.
[chris] whoa!
A fight filled with mayhem and chaos.
I don't think, copperhead is one of the bots
that you want to put in a corner.
'cause we got a big bite right up front.
[chris] oh, my gosh.
I love it!
[david fay] I'm local las vegas artist, david fay.
Assemblage art is what I do, metal assemblage art,
so it's taking trash and turning it into treasure, I hope.
I like to think of it as treasure.
[chris] whoa! I think, a tooth just flew off the shrederator.
Oh, shrapnel all over the battlebox.
[david fay] what I'm doing is I'm taking the wreckage from these fights
and I'm creating the sculpture that we can then auction off for charity.
My thoughts and ideas are to build this trojan horse
because it's the hidden competitor within that's gonna win the battle.
This is an amazing experience and I wanna thank all the builders
for all their hard work and everything they put into these robots
to get them into that arena.
And I can't wait for you to see the sculpture
and see your parts and pieces in it.
And I hope it lives up to your expectations, guys.
[crowd cheering]
we are back on battlebots.
Are they chanting your name? Are you fighting here in vegas?
I don't know.
How'd you do in vegas, by the way, back in the day?
-I did well, actually. -Did you?
Yeah, it was, it was overall pretty good.
[chris] okay, kenny, it is time for the main event
and this is a heck of a matchup.
Copperhead, lock-jaw two legitimate giant nut contenders.
And let's start with copperhead.
Zach goff, the captain from last year, taking the season off,
so turning over the controls to the married couple of robert and kimberly cowan,
which makes sense because copperhead actually lives in their garage.
Free loader, by the way.
You'll remember, in 2020, copperhead was great.
3-0 during the regular season, number three overall seed
upset in the round of 32.
But robert said even though we had a perfect regular season record,
there were still plenty of blemishes with this robot.
[kenny] well, that shocking loss to mammoth,
obviously, still hurts.
But as they told us, they've taken a lot of the weaknesses
out of an already excellent copperhead
and they think they've got a championship level bot.
Taking out one of the og's of the sport, donald hutson and lock-jaw.
And it was kind of a rough 2020 season.
You can hear the fans chant for him.
Very, very popular robot. Donald couldn't make it out of the round of 32.
So, did he take an early vacation?
Of course not.
He got right back in the box and won a bounty.
You simply cannot count this team out ever.
[kenny] the way lock-jaw tore through
the beat up bounty tournament that was an artist at work.
They want to keep that momentum going into this season.
Donald won a desperado, he's won a bounty.
Now it's time to put together a dominant regular season
and prove that lock-jaw is a true giant nut contender.
Does that first step start tonight?
Let's find out. Faruq.
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?
[crowd cheering]
it's time for the main event.
[crowd cheering]
in the red square, this bot may be tiny,
but if it manages to land shots,
you're going straight out of the park,
like that movie, the sandlot.
Yeah, yeah.
This little thing is a beast, winning all of its brawls,
so you better jet or you'll be screaming,
"you're killing me, smalls."
give it up for copperhead!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] there they are, team copperhead, snaked out from head to toe.
This is an intimidating machine, kenny,
and look at the size of those tires.
[kenny] they're almost as big as the bot.
They've even got the snake mini bot.
A lot of things to love about copperhead,
but none more than that drum spinner.
Man, is that thing dope.
[chris] by the way, she's got a real snake around her neck.
-[kenny] I was going to say. -[chris] holy...
In the blue square, like a root canal, he'll bring the pain,
he's giving you two weapons and no novocaine.
Rocks bots sky high like there's no gravity,
then fills up their graves like a cavity.
It's lock-jaw!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] you know, kenny, back in 1999,
donald hutson won a battelbots tournament right here in vegas.
And from what we've heard, he thinks he's got a serious shot at another one
with this version of lock-jaw.
[kenny] that's right, in 2020, he was working out what he calls new bot bugs,
but he's taken all the best aspects of that bot
and turned it up to a 10. That vertical weapon is spinning up
to 250 miles per hour in only a few seconds.
The bot is durable.
It can drive inverted if it needs to.
I can't wait to see it in action.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] getting a good look at copperhead,
and I thought robert's philosophy on how to win this fight
was very interesting kenny.
[kenny] well, yeah, I mean, listen, he said.
All we got to do is hit them as much as possible, wherever and whenever.
Forget being technical.
Go out there and strike, and strike first.
I don't know if it's the best strategy,
but you gotta love the confidence they have in their weapon.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] copperhead flanked by its snake nuisance bots.
Lock-jaw trying to play the role of mongoose.
Kenny, a lot of tension here in the arena.
[kenny] you can see it on donald's face.
He wants this one.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[chris] I mean, that is amazing.
She didn't find that on the way in today, did she?
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[chris] I guarantee you the pits are gonna empty for this one.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] copperhead, lock-jaw.
Hold on to your lug nuts.
Let the bot battle begin!
Lock-jaw in pursuit out of the gate.
Looking to be aggressive, but drive directly on top of copperhead here.
That's playing with some serious fire.
Oh, you can hear those weapons.
Really grinding up.
[kenny] lock-jaw going out there using its plow there.
Right against their primary weapon to copperhead,
copperhead gets underneath, though.
[chris] yeah, it could definitely do some damage
to lock-jaw from the underbelly.
Oh, yes, weapon on weapon, sparks fly.
Big impact there.
Lock-jaw not backing down at all.
Ah! You heard robert cowan and copperhead saying he wanted to go weapon
on a weapon with lock-jaw.
The dude was not lying.
Oh, big shot by copperhead.
[kenny] how long can these two weapons last, chris?
It feels like we're gonna find out.
[chris] well, copperhead winning the battle for low ground so far,
lock-jaw is absorbing the punishment.
[kenny] yeah, definitely. Seems like that suspension system
of lock-jaw is serving it well right now.
I think there's a problem with...
Double hit there from copperhead
and those forks are getting messed up.
Oh, my gosh.
We're good, we're good, we're good.
[chris] oh, yeah, that left fork is bent backward,
that left front wheels hanging up for dear life
and lock-jaw is behind the eight ball now.
But suddenly copperhead looked stunned, too.
[kenny] yeah, that's right.
It seems like they might be trying to get some space as well
to try to get that weapon up to speed.
[chris] oh, lock-jaw is on fire!
We have seen this in seasons past.
[kenny] yeah, he may have to shut down their primary weapon.
Big hit by copperhead.
Right in front of us.
[chris] and now lock-jaw is on its head.
Can it self-right?
Oh!
Copperhead says, "maybe I could be of some assistance
in that department, sir."
[kenny] that fork is really messed up,
and they typically use that to self-right,
but there's a major problem with it right now.
Copperhead going to town on lock-jaw.
[chris] that weapon has been dishing out pain since the opening bell.
[kenny] now we know why the cowans were so confident about their bot.
[chris] under a minute to go.
Copperhead looking a a little out of control here in the second half
but continuing to attack and grind away.
[kenny] there's been some massive hits by both robots here,
but no doubt about it, lock-jaw showing way, way more wear and tear here.
[chris] but how about lock-jaw shows off that powerful drivetrain,
just bullying copperhead into the screws,
[kenny] yeah, donald hutson an amazing driver doing his best
to hang in there and jam up that primary weapon.
I don't think that thing has stopped spinning for one second.
[chris] no doubt, it has been a rock.
Look at lock-jaw playing the aggressor down the stretch.
Oh, a big pop by copperhead.
[kenny] nice recovery by donald hutson.
He's done a great job of resetting and staying aggressive
after those exchanges.
What a fight!
[chris] and we have got a double decker bus sandwich to finish off three minutes
of back and forth action here in las vegas.
[crowd cheering]
an amazing performance by both bots
and now this one will go to the judges.
[chris] kenny, snakes usually lie in wait,
but not this one, copperhead was in attack mode from the jump.
[kenny] well, robert cowan's game plan
was to put that drum spinner to work.
And my goodness, did he stick to it every time lock-jaw
engaged with its vertical spinner, copperhead was right there
for the weapon on weapon hit.
[chris] and copperheads certainly got the better of those exchanges.
Their weapon never stopped spinning
while donald's went up in flames.
[kenny] that's right, but somehow lock-jaw was the more aggressive bot
in that second half.
Donald used his rear wedge to try and jam up that weapon throughout the fight,
and despite spending a good portion of the match inverted,
donald managed to control much of the action down the stretch
as copperhead was swinging for the fences.
[chris] wall to wall action in this main event.
Let's head over to faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
[crowd cheering]
we have a split decision.
Judge jason scored the battle for copperhead.
Judge derek scored the battle for lock-jaw.
Judge lisa scored the battle for the winner...
Copperhead!
[crowd cheering]
robert and kimberly, uh, sigh of relief?
Yeah, I don't...
Why couldn't you make that easier on us, man?
You just wouldn't die.
You just kept going.
Were you surprised that it was a split decision
based on what we saw inside the box?
-No, no. Not at all. -Why?
Did you watch the match?
I mean, it was back and forth the whole time.
So he got hits, we got hits and just we both kept going.
Yeah.
You said you want to just stay aggressive
and kind of get rid of being a technical driver and just get in their face.
Are you pretty happy with your performance?
Um, no. I think anything that goes to a split decision,
we got to try better so that we can get a knockout.
We need a knockout next time.
Kimberly?
Yes.
Why do you have a real snake around your neck
and your husband's got a fake one?
'cause I secretly wear the pants in the family
[laughs]
wow.
The snake pants.
Congratulations on your first win as co-captains.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny, it's interesting because
robert, kimberly cowan felt like, yeah, it should have been a split decision.
I don't know. Maybe I saw it through a different lens here.
I thought they were dominant.
Well, listen, I think the difference was their primary weapon.
They were the ones who are really doling out
most of the hits throughout the fight.
Their primary weapon never went down,
whereas the primary weapon of lock-jaw did go down.
So, I thought it was going to be pretty clear for copperhead.
But it was a very exciting fight
and lock-jaw got some great hits in early on.
[chris] all right, what a stellar night of action.
We saw stone cold knockouts from hyper shock and black dragon,
while others, like p1 and copperhead,
had to rely on the judges for their first victory.
But I got to tell you, I thought the headliner, unquestionably,
was reese ewert's bot fusion.
That's right. I mean, again, you look at their bot last season,
they had a ton of problems, a ton of inconsistencies.
This time, they were very consistent and very dangerous.
So, another fun night here at battlebots. Once again for faruq,
our bot whisperer, pete, my man, kenny florian,
I'm chris rose. We'll see you next time here on battlebots.
[crowd cheering]