[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
hey, everyone and welcome to
a very special episode of battlebots.
I'm chris rose and I'm joined by my partner,
a really nice guy that I truly love,
kenny florian.
Thanks, chris.
-[crowd cheering] -thank you.
Really excited to be here tonight
and to share the moment with my best friend.
Thank, kenny.
Tonight, we present battlebots.
Friendship edition.
[crowd laughs]
[all laughing]
[chris] I'm just kidding.
If anything, tonight's show is going to be the most
violent one we've ever had.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] let's take a look at tonight's
high-stake fight card
where the majority of these teams
are staring down the barrel of their
third and final qualifying match.
After a rollercoaster season,
tombstone enters the arena at 1-1.
It is in dire need of a win to avoid missing the tournament
for the first time in its history.
Looking to play spoiler,
a man with no filter,
and his flamethrower,
gary gin and free shipping.
[kenny] and it's do or die for another battlebots headliner
as 1-1 hydra
looks to launch its way back in the round of 32.
Standing in its way, rookie, glitch.
19-year-old captain, kyle miller
said he's ready to fly but refuses to die.
[chris] and at the top of the biggest marquee tonight
the most anticipated main event
since tyson, holyfield,
it's endgame versus sawblaze.
[kenny] sawblaze already has the pelts of minotaur
and madcatter on its wall.
Endgame has gutted hydra and witch doctor.
This is a clash of two 2-0 teams
gunning for the number one seat in this year's bracket.
[chris] but first, we kick things off
with the unkillable crew from new jersey,
blacksmith.
Throwing down with a bot that wishes you ill will
and bad tidings, malice.
-Ready to get it started? -I'm ready.
You guys ready to get started?
[crowd cheering]
I thought so.
Faruq, do your thing.
[faruq] ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
It's robot fighting time!
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] in the red square, from edison, new jersey,
he forges weapons using an anvil
and when he hits you with them, you gonna need an advil.
It's blacksmith!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] beware of blacksmith, the metallic mafia.
Led by captain al kindle.
1-1 after taking down free shipping
and falling to shatter.
Is this the toughest bot in the field, kenny?
[kenny] you have to rip this bot's heart out
if you want to kill it, chris.
The team added that new
flaming power hammer this season
which has increased their ability to dish out damage.
But both of blacksmith's fights
have gone the distance so far.
Al is looking for a knockout victory tonight
to move to 2-1.
In the blue square from san jose, california,
call her the beaster bunny.
But you won't be looking for eggs,
you'll be hunting for blown off robot parts.
It's malice!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] bunny sauriol leads team malice into battle.
They currently sit at a disappointing 0-2 but kenny,
they've actually been a really tough out so far.
[kenny] yeah, they went the distance against tantrum
then lost at jackpot.
Those two teams have a combined 4-0 record,
so it hasn't been an easy road for malice this year.
But their weapon looked rock solid in its last match.
Let's see if they can finish this season with a win
and who knows, with their strength of schedule,
maybe they sneak into the top 32.
Our next fight is against malice, so we're gonna go
with our heavy horizontal plow in the front.
It's 3/8th inch ar500,
should be more than enough to absorb the shots.
There's always concern,
it could hook the edge of our plow
and, you know, maybe shear some bolts
but with the shape of malice and its top,
I think we can really do some damage with our new weapon.
I think it's a good matchup for us,
I think plow can take the hits.
We're gonna be running our lighter weapon
which we call the drumstick.
And that's going to allow us to run titanium armor
underneath the uhmw that we normally run
because we think he's gonna get through our armor,
no issue and we wanna do as much as we can to prevent him
from hitting anything important.
Luckily, our robot is pretty fire-proof.
We actually did a lot of testing prior
to make sure that our padding will keep it
from catching fire, hopefully.
[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] for more on the weapon
that malice will be using tonight,
we take it over to our bot whisperer, pete.
Before we talk about the weapon,
you should be looking at that armor
that's on the front of blacksmith.
Because he knows the weapon he's going to go against.
It is this 60 pound hunk of metal
right here that I'm holding.
Kenny, can you see this?
I can see you shaking.
Oh, this table is not ready for this weapon.
[chris] watch it there, pete.
[announcer] red team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight!
[chris] malice driver, david rush,
just licking his chops for this one.
Let the bot battle begin.
Oh, malice with the big shot.
Trying to work through the backside of blacksmith.
[all exclaiming]
[chris] blacksmith is on its head.
Can it self-right? Malice, hanging back.
It's having trouble, but it does, it rights itself.
[kenny] beautiful self-right there by blacksmith.
[chris] missed opportunity by malice.
[chris] oh!
Look at the ferocity of that weapon.
Oh, another big one.
These are vicious shots.
[all exclaiming]
[chris] there goes that hammer head,
malice just ripped it off.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] oh, my goodness!
[kenny] and the top is now in flames.
[chris] unbelievable!
[kenny] malice doing some serious damage right now.
[chris] now, what in the world
is blacksmith's strategy, kenny?
[kenny] well, al kindle has no choice
but to try and break malice's weapon
and see if he can even up the scorecards.
He has the wedge to do it.
[chris] this is amazing.
Can al kindle and blacksmith make it two minutes
on fire without their primary weapon?
[kenny] blacksmith always fights its way
to make the fight dramatic.
[chris] he's still swinging that hammer.
And how about malice continuing to attack here?
Looking for the right angle to land yet,
another big time shot.
I mean, they gotta attack the back of blacksmith,
also attacking that flare.
Come on, is that all you got?
[chris] I love it, al kindle there egging
malice's driver, david rush on.
[kenny] al kindle is a crafty veteran,
he knows he needs to break malice's weapon.
He wants malice to keep throwing itself
into that big wedge on the front of blacksmith.
[chris] does blacksmith have a fire suit on or something?
This is incredible.
Still going strong.
And look at the weapon,
that drumstick at the front of malice,
carving its way into blacksmith
and it's not slowing its opponent down.
[kenny] yeah, malice has to be wondering
what do I need to do to knock out this bot.
[chris] 50 seconds to go.
It's still cascading through blacksmith.
Malice still chopping away full blown with its weapon.
[all exclaiming]
[chris] what a fight!
Closing in on a 30 second mark.
Blacksmith is gonna do whatever it can
to try and stop the primary weapon of malice.
[kenny] these shots are just brutal.
Blacksmith still trying to use the hammer.
[chris] wow! Unbelievable, 20 to go.
[kenny] it's still in flames.
[chris] oh, another huge shot!
Somehow, blacksmith and al kindle
on fire the last two minutes
will force a judge's decision.
[all exclaiming]
[chris] whoo, what a fight!
Blacksmith refusing to die
at the hands of a very angry, malice.
It's time for the judges now to do what they do
and sort through this slugfest.
The replay, the decision
and more of the best damn robot combat anywhere
when we return on battlebots.
[chris] welcome back to battlebots
where blacksmith and malice just treated the fans
to an unforgettable three minute brawl.
The judge's decision is incoming, kenny.
But first, let's relive the carnage.
This was three minutes of just incredible action.
[kenny] yeah, this was just ridiculous.
Both of these robots really went for it.
Hit after hit after hit
and it was back and forth.
There's that flaming hammer.
Oh! There goes the tip of the hammer,
right there over by us.
This was a critical error by al kindle,
dropping the hammer straight into malice's weapon.
[chris] malice would go on to split
blacksmith's hammer arm in half
and just never let up with that spitter, kenny.
That weapon unleashed hell tonight
but how about blacksmith, refusing to die.
[kenny] again, al always finds himself in these crazy fights,
win or lose, it's always dramatic.
It's always exciting.
And the flames just make it that much better, my goodness.
[chris] here's faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
[crowd cheering]
we have a unanimous decision.
The winner is
malice!
[all cheering]
[all exclaiming]
-[chris] bunny. -Yes.
How much fun was that three minutes?
It was probably the most fun of my life up to this day.
[all laughing]
what made it so enjoyable from your stand point?
I love fire.
[all laughing]
watching things burn is even more fun.
Bunny, that's one of the greatest fights
we've ever seen.
Is that the best fight you've ever been a part of?
I think so, yeah.
I think that wins us most destructive.
-[laughs] -yeah!
[crowd cheering]
bunny, as always, it's great talking to you.
Congratulations on your first win.
Thank you!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, both of these hard nose crews
now sit at 1-2.
We've seen teams make the tournament
with that record before.
Will it be enough in this year's
highly competitive field?
Okay, we're gonna keep the train of robot carnage
rolling here and jump into fight number two.
It's the brazilians, black dragon
facing the the grapplers, claw viper.
Team black dragon enters with a record of 1-1
and like, so many teams,
heading into their third and final fight.
There's a ton of pressure to get a win here.
But you wouldn't know it, looking at this
rowdy band of college kids.
Black dragon!
[chris] they're all high-fiving and getting
pumped up back there at the tunnel.
They're about to explode, they can't wait to get out there.
[kenny] yeah, these kids bring the heat
no matter what the situation.
They're coming off a decision, lost to rotator,
in which they spent most of the fight
leaking, smoking flames yet again.
At this point, their durability isn't in question.
They've always put on a good show and we know
they have knockout power with that egg beater weapon.
But it's time for them to put it all together
and win one when they need it most.
[chris] they're gonna be facing
second year bot, claw viper in a rematch from last season.
Claw viper is 1-0 after taking down
a barely functioning, pardon my french,
in an unaired fight.
But a victory here
against the grizzled veterans, black dragon.
Now that would be big time.
[kenny] this is a different level and they say, you know,
you don't really feel like you belong here at battlebots
until you take out a veteran.
I guess that some is probably just me who says that
-but it's true. -[chris laughs]
we better get black dragon out here
'cause those guys are just jumping,
they're ready to roll.
Faruq!
[crowd cheering]
in the red square,
he has an egg beater spinner, so its options are ample.
His opponents will get hard boiled, poached or scrambled,
it's all up to you, he can make it slow or speedy.
Either way, this battle will be over easy.
It's black dragon!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] representing brazil, it is black dragon.
Ko'ed icewave then lost a judge's decision
to rotator last time out, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, and they've actually deactivated
their flamethrower for this match
to try and avoid catching fire,
like they did against rotator.
They're all business tonight.
They wanna use that egg beater drumstick to knock
claw viper out and move on to the tournament.
Come on!
[faruq] in the blue square, from seattle, washington,
the town starbucks calls home,
comes a bot who will spell your name wrong
on your tombstone.
Lift that's stronger than a double shot,
the best you've ever seen, yo.
Burn the other bots with a hot grapplecino.
Here comes claw viper!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] and here comes team claw viper,
now in its second season.
Kenny tell us a little bit more about this bot.
[kenny] it's a grappling robot that is one of the fastest
in the competition.
Claw viper features motors commonly used
for spinning weapons to power its wheels.
It can get up to 20 miles an hour in half a second
and it's gonna need that speed to stay away
from black dragon's nasty egg beater spin.
I'm pretty, pretty excited to fight claw viper again.
I'm worried about each warps, like, it got new parts,
ah, old parts, so,
we had the same problem with rotator.
Those parts were just right against us.
But we've got a whole new edge,
designed it specifically against claw viper.
So, I think we'll be good.
Today, we're gonna fight black dragon.
We fought them last year and they beat us pretty badly.
So, we're looking forward to get a chance
to avenge that loss.
Last year, we were still a brand new robot,
still learning some of the kinks.
This year, we have a lot more experience,
we know how to run it better
and we have twice as many motors.
We're hoping to use the arena hazards
to help us defeat black dragon today.
We're gonna use the geometry of the arena with
the upper deck, screws, the hammers.
We can't knock them out on our own,
we need the help of the arena to do it.
[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] red team, ready?
Let's go!
Yeah!
[announcer] blue team, ready?
You wanna go? Let's go!
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
There goes claw viper, so fast.
[kenny] oh, my goodness,
what an athletic move by claw viper to start.
[chris] oh, good pop there by black dragon.
He got under his opponent.
Claw viper looking to counter.
[kenny] oh! Oh!
[chris] nice body slam there by claw viper.
Those front forks are giving black dragon
some serious trouble, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, getting underneath black dragon.
But here comes the brazilians.
Black dragon go to work at the bottom side of claw viper.
[chris] yeah, it's a bad spot for claw viper,
right up against the screws.
Black dragon backs off!
Let's see if they crank that weapon up to full speed.
Claw viper is struggling to move.
[kenny] claw viper's back wheel guard
is caved in, chris.
And they're just looking like a sitting duck now.
[chris] salivating with anticipation as black dragon
drags claw viper into the short corner.
Nice little reversal by claw viper.
But the question, how long
can kevin milczewski's bot survive?
Uh-oh.
Oh, the pulverizer dropped down and nailed it down.
[kenny] black dragon really starting
to chip away at claw viper.
[chris] the brazilians back off.
Claw viper really struggling to move now.
[referee] this is uncontrolled motion.
[kenny] this could be it, chris.
They do not have control of that robot.
-Five! -[chris] and there it is,
the ref has seen enough.
Claw viper is getting counted out.
[kenny] oh, now they're smoking.
[chris] that's gonna be the end of the road
for claw viper.
-No go! -[buzzer sounds]
[chris] and it is over.
Kenny, claw viper was right up in black dragon's
grill to start this match.
[kenny] yeah, absolutely. Speed is gonna be a factor
for them against any robot in the world.
They're so fast, they are really good at clamping down.
Just showed a little lack of durability here
and once black dragon was able to get underneath,
it was all black dragon.
[chris] yeah, black dragon got claw viper there
in the short corner next to the upper deck.
Black dragon took one shot from the pulverizer
but that didn't deter the semi finalist
from a season ago to issue some damage
and call it a night.
[all cheering]
[chris] so, the squad from brazil
finishes on a high note
and at 2-1, they should be tournament bound
for the third straight season.
Coming up, one of the most unique bots in the competition
versus one of the deadliest.
It's smeeeeeeeeeee taking on gigabyte
when battlebots continue.
[chris] welcome back to battlebots.
Next up on the fight card, smeeeeeeeeeee,
will have to contend with the full body spinner
of death, gigabyte.
In fact, there's team gigabyte
reeling the bot towards the arena.
As the sport of robot combat continues to evolve,
so too is the playing surface.
The introduction of a redesigned battlebots
has not come without controversy however.
Some love it, some don't.
Either way, the new geometry of the box
has had a game changing effect on the action.
Take a look.
[kenny] well, battlebots is all about force and power
this season, the biggest change within the battlebots
is geometry.
[chris] look at that! Oh!
Taking it out putting him on the upper deck.
[pete] this all new rectangular platform
known as the upper deck
is raised six inches above the ground
and it's covered in screws.
And it hasn't just given teams a new way to show off.
Yeah!
[pete] it's reduced the floor space of the arena
by a 128 square feet.
[chris] he's got nowhere to hide, kenny.
Woah!
[pete] but because of its shape,
this platform has also created
eight foot by 16 foot alleyways.
While control bots and vertical spinners
have been able to take advantage
of these short corners.
The arena now has twice as many edges,
making it easier for a horizontal spinner
to get trapped and damage themselves.
[chris] this is not what gigabyte wanted.
Woah!
[pete] and these changes created
a massive increase in engagement.
[chris] what a hit to start this fight, my goodness.
Oh-ho-ho-ho!
[pete] compared to this time, last season,
significant strikes or big hits per minute
are up nearly 40 percent.
Additionally, attack frequency
or how often at least one bot goes on the offensive
is up more than 30 percent.
Now, despite the increased engagement,
fight times are up.
And overall knockouts are actually down.
And that might be because of the new slap guards
that border the arena.
Robots now roll back right into the arena
to keep fighting.
While arena outs are still possible,
we've already seen more than half a dozen prevented
by this casing.
[chris] oh! That's a big one!
Went right off the glass.
[pete] and with only the strongest bots
making it to the round of 32.
The increased engagement
and the reduced chance of an arena out
could set the stage for the most destructive
world championship tournament ever.
[chris] well, let's see how the new battlebots continues
to effect the action as we move closer
to tournament play.
Next up on the fight card,
gigabyte versus smeeeeeeeeeee.
Gigabyte was knocked out
in dramatic fashion in its first fight
after being backed into one of those new short corners.
It did even things up at 1-1 with a win over
fellow full body spinner, captain shrederator.
But this team has a lot to prove here tonight.
[kenny] there's no doubt, gigabyte won its last fight
almost by default after shrederator died suddenly,
so if I'm the committee, I still don't quite know
what to make of this robot this year.
This is a huge fight for team gigabyte.
[chris] and they will be facing
one of the most interesting combat robots
you'll ever see in smeeeeeeeeeee.
[kenny] you say interesting, I say awkward.
I mean, how do you fight that bot?
Every bot that goes out there with a plan,
really can't quite get it done the way they want to.
Captain joe fabiani is committed to breaking the mold
when it comes to design here at battlebots.
And he's looking to prove that you can succeed
without being just another vertical spinner.
The team went 1-2 in its rookie season,
they are 1-0 this year, coming off an unaired fight
that ended in a very fortuitous knockout
against deep six.
The jury still very much out on smeeeeeeeeeee.
Curious to see how gigabyte approaches it.
Fascinating match and I have no idea
how this one's gonna go.
Let's find out. Faruq!
In the red square from new york, new york,
this bot's name has 19 e's and none of them
stand for empathy for the suffering of other robots.
It's smeeeeeeeeeee!
[chris] smeeeeeeeeeee, eight feet wide.
In fact, they have to roll this thing out
on a special cart.
Man, just look at this robot.
[kenny] just a crazy combat robot.
Two small horizontal spinners
connected by a new ar400 wedge added for this matchup.
It's much more rigid than its past configuration
and is capable of absorbing more damage.
Joe fabiani wants to use it
to back gigabyte against the wall
in the hopes that the full bodied spinner
destroys itself.
[chris] still can't figure out how he built that thing
in his apartment in manhattan
but we'll get to that at some point.
In the blue square, from oceanside, california,
the bot from the shore who leaves you broken and sore,
it's gigabyte!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] captain john mladenik
leading the way for team gigabyte.
So, kenny, what does john need to do to solve the riddle
of smeeeeeeeeeee here tonight?
[kenny] well, we know how dangerous full bodied spinners
can be to themselves, so john wants to keep
the action in the center of the box,
avoid getting trapped near the rails
and look to get around the sides
or back of smeeeeeeeeeee
and take out those satellite bots as he calls them.
So, this night we're basically changing the whole robot.
Tonight, we're using a solid air 400 steel wedge.
When we have a rigid wedge,
our drive is lot more performing,
and we can maintain control of the fight
because we're not wrapping around things,
we're just controlling them into the walls.
And that's our strategy for beating full bodied spinners,
is they're very self-destructive.
If we can get 'em into the walls repeatedly,
it's likely to break on their own.
This fight, she needs to be like the great wall of china,
it's gotta be impenetrable,
it's not gonna give you an inch and hopefully,
you end up completely surrounded all sides.
You know, if I want to pick a robot to fight
it's a multi bot,
where my shell's heavier than each of the little robots.
It's gonna be, I think a good fight for us,
we're gonna get up to speed,
hit in the center, he can't bum rush us
and we'll be hitting little bots.
His robot's like a 100 pounds each, maybe.
And we're spinning a 110 pound shell,
so it's not a good matchup for him at all.
[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] gigabyte.
Smeeeeeeeeeee.
A full bodied spinner of death versus a wall on wheels.
Grab your welding helmet
because sparks are about to fly.
The fight when battlebots continues.
[chris] welcome back to battlebots
where the full bodied spinner, gigabyte
is about to take the most unorthodox robot on the field,
smeeeeeeeeeee for a whirl.
Here we go.
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Both teams letting their weapons fire up.
Smeeeeeeeeeee having a little struggle
on the floor right now.
There we go, it's shot in the middle again and again.
[kenny] they're listening to you.
[chris] they are. They are tempted by the middle of that.
[kenny] yeah, they're trying to breakthrough,
they cannot get through that armor.
-[chris] oh, there's the side. -[kenny] yup.
[chris] smeeeeeeeeeee wants to get around gigabyte
with that long wedge
and force it towards the side of the box,
see if it can get the full bodied spinner
to damage itself.
In the meantime, that left horizontal spinner
on smeeeeeeeeeee has not, it's not working right now.
So, looks like he's down to one weapon at this point,
just the right side.
[kenny] gigabyte putting a ton of pressure on smeeeeeeeeeee,
chipping away at that wedge, chris
and doing a great job of keeping the action
in the center of the box.
[chris] joe fabiani trying to inch gigabyte
closer to the wall. Oh!
[kenny] a mere hit and now we have some bits flying around.
[chris] it's more than just a e that hit the... Glass.
[kenny] oh, look at that shot!
[chris] now smeeeeeeeeeee is inverted
but they can drive that way.
Oh, can smeeeeeeeeeee find a way to break gigabyte
before gigabyte breaks its two small spare bots.
[kenny] see if gigabyte can go right at that weapon.
[chris] something else just came off.
Nice shot by gigabyte.
I'm surprised that gigabyte isn't just right after weapon,
you know, it's kinda like, dealing with multi bots
with a multi bot platform.
He's gonna be the heavier body,
he's gonna hit a lot harder than those bots on the plex.
[all exclaiming]
[kenny] that's what joe fabiani was looking for,
a self-inflicted shot.
[chris] yeah, he just ricocheted off the rails.
Oh, boy.
[kenny] smeeeeeeeeeee is having some
mobility issues though.
[chris] yeah, this is the time for gigabyte to really strike
with a minute to go.
-[all exclaiming] -[kenny] there it goes!
[chris] now, if smeeeeeeeeeee starts swirling around,
it's gonna be something.
He's stopped going on but that countdown has started.
Impressive performance by gigabyte.
All joe fabiani can do is
smile in pain.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny, gigabyte went right after the middle
of smeeeeeeeeeee and found out that thing ain't breaking.
[kenny] that's right, they were tempted by that
tasty middle when they should have been
focused on chewing up the flanks.
[chris] smeeeeeeeeeee stuck to its game plan
and kept the pressure on trying to back gigabyte
down into the side of the box.
[kenny] yeah, they sure did and gigabyte did have
a little scare there when it collided with the wall
but this is a much more durable robot
than its season's past, chris.
[chris] now, this was the shot of the match
right here for gigabyte
getting smeeeeeeeeeee up in the air
and then boom!
Battle finished up because
no tires, no movement.
John mladenik. Hey, john.
I'm here.
I imagine it was very interesting for you
to have to face something like that.
What was the strategy?
Well, the strategy was to get up to speed
and try to hit each end as many times as possible.
And I wanted to stay away from the shelf area
'cause of the pockets in there.
And I thought as long as he didn't get me
cornered in the pocket or in a corner
that this was gonna go well for us.
John, so, you're set at 2-1,
you know that there's a lot of good robots in this field,
so not everybody can make the round of 32.
The selection committee is listening closely,
what do you have to say to 'em?
You know, if you wants fights to go three minutes
and you want lots of damage, lots of carnage,
you'd wanna put us in that final 32.
Sounds like a pretty good sell job to me.
John, congratulations to you and team gigabyte.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, team gigabyte is trending upwards.
Is their resume strong enough to break them
into the tournament?
We shall see.
All right, coming up, an undefeated rookie
looks to launch himself into the field of 32
while jake ewert looks to simply
launch him into a parking lot.
It's hydra versus glitch.
And later, the stakes in tonight's main event
could not be higher,
as the unflappable, jamison go
rolls sawblaze into the arena
to face defending champion, end game.
Both teams are undefeated,
the winner may just earn this year's
number one tournament seed.
Don't go anywhere.
[crowd cheering]
we are back on battlebots and stepping into the box
is last season's number one overall seed, hydra.
But when you're talking about one,
the only thing we're focused on
is hydra's 1-1 record so far.
And even jake ewert told us,
he hasn't lived up to his own standards.
[kenny] no, he hasn't. This is a guy who
doesn't just wanna win,
he wants to strike fear into the hearts of his opponents.
Lost his first match to defending champ, end game
and then even things up with a knockout of gruff
that ended in an arena out but hydra's flipper
had mechanical issues in both of those matches
and jake was pretty hard on himself
for his bot's performance.
He says, you guys still haven't seen this thing
at full power.
If this thing works, we're gonna see some serious flips.
And tonight, taking on a team that has
one fight in the history of battlebots.
Glitch, it's engineered by a college student
named kyle miller.
He goes to the university of california.
That one match is a win
over a veteran bot in ghost raptor
but... With all due respect to chuck pitzer's bot,
we're talking about a totally different level
when you're facing hydra.
Jeez, no question about that.
[chris] talk about being thrown to the wolves.
[kenny] glitch has a total of three minutes
of lifetime experience inside the box.
Hydra has almost a full three seasons under its belt
and it can take years for teams to perfect
the functionality of their designs in this sport,
so this is a monumental challenge for the rookies
facing last year's number one seed.
Can glitch shock the world?
Let's find out. Faruq!
In the red square,
from dorchester, wisconsin,
he might be named after a character
from ancient folklore but when he takes aim at you,
he doesn't miss,
it's hydra!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] here comes the hydra crew.
Of course, captained by jake ewert.
Jake all smiles.
He is certainly looking confident, kenny.
[kenny] he looks very confident.
He said that with the bot finally at full power,
he's looking to break some records.
He flipped gruff 16 times in his last fight.
Tonight, he says he's going for third.
[faruq] in the blue square,
from berkeley, california,
he's more fatal to machines than the blue screen of death.
It's glitch!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] glitch won a judge's decision
over ghost raptor.
And now these young college kids ready to get a go.
That bot is so sleek looking, man.
[kenny] it kinda reminds me of a stealth bomber.
We know that 60 pound egg beater weapon, it's hard
but according to kyle miller, it was ground clearance issues
that gave glitch fits in is debut.
He's taking the edge off the wedges
to prevent the robot from getting hung up
on the battlebots floor here.
But he told us, I just hope I don't spend the whole fight
flying through the air.
Well, good luck, kid.
Glitch is a big spinner.
You have to be worried because you never know
if you're actually gonna win the ground war.
And if you don't then it keeps hitting you and hitting you.
It's powerful and once he gets me up on top of that spinner,
he could start tearing up my front ends,
so I gotta be a little more methodical
and place my shot to the side of the spinner,
that way it's safe.
It's not gonna be good going into the tournament at 1-2,
I might not even get into the finals,
so I need this win to
almost guarantee my spot.
We're running our fort configuration for this match.
Hopefully, that will help us get into the sides of hydra.
It's kind of our nightmare matchup,
we have very weak wheels
and also we don't have a dedicated sub grader,
so... Hopefully, we'll do well.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Here goes hydra, trying to get that first flip in.
Uh-oh, gotta get away.
Oh! Oh!
Now, this is full power, baby.
[kenny] didn't that hit the ceiling?
[chris] it was close. Wow!
Hydra goes in for seconds but gets caught on the floor.
Can glitch even move?
-[kenny] oh, now it goes. -[chris] yes.
It's moving, now the question is, is hydra moving
'cause it's smoking.
Oh, my god, kenny, you gotta be kidding me?
[kenny] wow. Oh! Look at this!
Oh!
Hydra trying-- oh!
[chris] he just took a massive ricochet shot.
Oh, my goodness!
Glitch is coming back!
[chris] unbelievable!
Now, let's see if hydra can move on its own
or is it just spinning in circles?
Glitch is going in for more.
Kenny, why wouldn't the rookie just back away?
[kenny] I'm not sure, glitch,
they wanna try and finish the job.
But chris, both these bots look to be hurting
in the drive department now.
[chris] the front fort side clips are bent,
the tip of hydra's flippers been blown off in battle
and both bots are seeing stars here.
This is unbelievable!
[kenny] glitch does seem to be the more
mobile bot at this point, chris.
And that primary weapon is still going strong.
[chris] did we see a monumental upset?
Last year's number one overall seed.
-Oh! Takes another shot. -[kenny] wow!
[chris] already with one loss this season.
Could he be done in
by a college kid in his second battlebots fight?
-[kenny] wow! -[chris] it's gonna happen.
[kenny] unbelievable.
[referee] that's a knockout.
-[buzzer sounds] -[crowd cheering]
[chris] wow.
[all exclaiming]
[chris] kenny, I thought the fight was over right there.
[kenny laughs] hey, we lost it in the camera.
It went so high.
We didn't even know where it went.
I'm pretty sure it almost hit the ceiling,
that was just ridiculous.
And take a look at how glitch lands right here,
drops in forks first
which breaks its fall and disperses the energy,
very fortunate to land at that angle.
Even so, we thought glitch was a goner
but it sprang back to life and said,
"let's see how you like it when you get hit in the face."
[chris] it was really that ricochet shot
where hydra was trying to right itself,
got in the air and then glitch said,
"no, you don't."
and I think that pretty much ended the day
for jake ewert's bot.
[kenny] no question about it. Oh, look at that timing.
Hit it perfectly, right on the nose.
Unbelievable.
[chris] it's hard for a veteran bot builder
to pull off what glitch did.
Let alone a bunch of college kids
in their second battlebots fight.
[crowd cheering]
-[chris] kyle miller. -Yes.
Do you know what just happened?
No, I think I'm dreaming or something.
Dude, you just knocked off
the number one seed from a year ago.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] are you in shock?
Yeah, we are going into this expecting,
we were ready to try to fix up for the next fight,
if you get what I mean.
Kyle, at what point did you think you could
actually win that match?
Uh, when they stopped moving controlledly.
-[all laughing] -like, that's about it.
[chris] kyle, be honest with us,
were you scared of hydra before this fight?
Yes, a 100 percent.
Yeah.
-[chris] and now? -Yes.
Seriously.
Kyle, congratulations to you and team glitch, great job.
Thank you.
Kenny, when the regular season schedule comes out,
you look at some fights, you're like,
"yeah, that's a win for them, he's moving."
and that's what we do with hydra against a rookie bot.
Shame on us because we just saw history.
[kenny] listen, I've been around the fight game
for a very long time
and anything and everything can happen in there.
And if you keep punching, you have a chance.
[chris] can't believe it, team glitch moves to 2-0
and with a win over hydra now on their resume,
it will be hard to keep them out of the top 32.
And for jake ewert, finishing the qualifiers at 1-2,
hydra now sits squarely on the bubble.
Coming up, the once mighty king,
ray billings sits at 1-1 and is determined
to punch his ticket to this year's tournament.
Standing in his way,
a man with ice in his veins
and a flamethrower that can't be contained,
it's gary gin and free shipping.
Don't go anywhere.
Welcome back to battlebots.
I don't know about you but I'm hungry for more robot combat.
Up next,
boy, do we have a good one for you.
For the first time ever,
tombstone will square off against free shipping.
2016 champion, ray billings
has had a rollercoaster season with tombstone.
Lost his first match in shocking fashion
against captain shrederator.
Evened up his record against mammoth,
albeit in unorthodox fashion.
Winning a judge's decision
after both bots were counted out.
There's a lot on the line for tombstone
in its final fight of the qualifiers, kenny.
[kenny] no doubt, after that shrederator loss
there were some whispers
that ray billings may have lost that
intimidation factor he's always carried into his fights
but with a tournament berth on the line tonight,
we'll see what the king of kinetic energy
has left in the tank.
I guarantee you, there isn't a team out there
that wants to face tombstone in the round of 32.
[ray laughs]
[chris] in the red square,
20 years of robot combat experience,
56 years of just being the man,
it's battlebots cult hero,
gary gin.
Free shipping may be 0-2 on the season
but both fights were ten out of ten in
the entertainment department.
Went the distance with blacksmith
and of course went boom against uppercut.
Oh, my goodness!
You may think gary doesn't have much left to fight for
but these two builders are old friends
and there will bragging rights on the line, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, these are both battle tested veterans,
both great drivers
and don't ever discount pride and reputation
as motivating forces in a big fight like this one.
Let's see what unfolds right now.
Faruq, take it away!
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] in the red square,
hello, this is shipping customer service,
how may I help you? Mmm-hmm.
Oh, yes, you're death is free
as long as you order before two.
Oh, no, we can kill you overnight
and make it our priority.
Don't track us, we'll track you,
so you're in the really silent majority.
Mmm-hmm, thanks for calling.
It's free shipping!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] we have a gary gin sighting,
12 o'clock, kenny.
Does free shipping have any shot
against the king of kinetic energy?
[kenny] listen, free shipping is as durable as they come
and one thing gary gin knows how to do is stay alive.
He knows tombstone went up in flames in its first fight
and was incapacitated in its second.
So, he's added a new plow to the front of the bot
in order to absorb punishment
and see if he can get tombstone to break itself
before the closing bell.
[faruq] in the blue square,
it will be a beautiful funeral as your life comes to an end,
you'll be carried by pallbearers,
six of your friends.
In this battle, it's time to test my thesis
that if you come too close to him,
you'll rest in pieces.
It's tombstone!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] ray billings, the winner of the 2016
giant nut.
Oh, he's all smiles for now.
Critical fight tonight because they are 1-1, kenny.
And he has yet to post a knockout.
[kenny] yeah, it is all on the line for him tonight.
He's changed things up for this fight.
Using that 4140 blade.
He's gonna have to take out those tires of free shipping
and try to bludgeon his way
into the round of 32.
I did add up a whole lot more armor up front
because tombstone's a really heavy hitter.
The only way a robot like free shipping
can really win a fight against a robot like tombstone
is by knockout.
So, that's why I have to hit him hard, hit him often,
till he's dead.
Gary gin and I have a long fight history
in untelevised events.
And in truth, he's done much better at those than I have.
He is probably beaten me two out of three matches.
So, I really, really want to win this match.
The tank for his flamethrower is on the side of the robot
which is exactly where I want to attack.
So, if things go the way I like 'em to,
I hope he's in a big old' fireball when this is done.
Good luck.
Good luck, man.
[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny, does free shipping have enough
length to actually get under tombstone
and stay away from that dangerous blade?
[kenny] I'm not sure he does.
You know, for gary gin,
I think it just works best when he drives like
a completely insane person, that's when he's at his best.
I think he's gonna do that against tombstone
and just see what happens.
[announcer] red team, ready?
[announcer] blue team, ready?
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Two veterans sizing each other up
and let it flame.
[kenny] gary gin trying to use that fire,
came off that primary weapon of tombstone.
Oh! There goes the tire.
- Got one. -[chris] yeah!
That right front tire on free shipping is gone.
[kenny] nice job by tombstone
to stay away from that wall there.
[chris] oh, he's picking out tires
there's another one that's gone.
[kenny] it's a three for four deal.
[chris] there's only one tire left and somehow
free shipping is still running and trying to run away.
[kenny] oh, my goodness.
-[chris] not optimal if you're gary gin. -[kenny] no.
And tombstone trying to get that weapon going again,
is it slowing down, did he shut it down?
[chris] is it possible that tombstone has lost its weapon?
It has done massive damage
but now, it might turn into a push fight
for the final two minutes.
[kenny] well, if gary gin was looking to break
tombstone's weapon with his plow
then mission accomplished.
Problem is, he's only got one wheel left to maneuver on.
[chris] yeah, he still has that
nasty flamethrower in the mix though.
[kenny] ray doing a great job of staying behind it,
doesn't wanna go head on just in case.
Doesn't wanna be in front of that flame.
[chris] so, tombstone has knee capped
free shipping here in the first half.
But ray billing has lost his primary weapon
which will definitely even things up on the scorecards.
So, folks, this fight is far from over.
[kenny] oh! He's taking tombstone for a little ride.
[chris] boy, ray billings has got to be careful here.
[kenny] yeah, this is now a battle
to show the judges which bot has more control.
Tombstone isn't setup to win a pushing match,
that's normally gary gin's forte.
But free shipping is severely compromised
in the mobility department at the moment.
Let's remember,
the judges award three different categories,
damage, aggression, control.
Both robots have taken their fair share of damage,
both continue to engage and try to play the aggressor.
So, which team will find a way to sway the judges
here down the stretch.
[kenny] oh, ray's staying right on him,
getting right in his face, pushing him out.
[chris] beaten him into the screws.
[kenny] what a move by tombstone.
Controlling the control bot here.
[chris] free shipping manages to escape and continues
to stay alive without its three wheels
but what a big time move there by ray billings
as the clock ticks towards zero.
[kenny] oh, he's seen it all in the battlebots
and he's surviving here.
[chris] these two old friends and veterans
are gonna go the distance.
-[buzzer sounds] -[crowd cheering]
[chris] now, we go on to the judge's scorecards.
Kenny, doctor ray billings had his scalpel
working to perfection out of the gates.
[kenny] yeah, ray was surgical with those strikes
nicking tires right off of free shipping,
almost got 'em all.
Look at that, two tires in two moves.
[chris] but then, tombstone lost its primary weapon
and ray had to duke it out with gary gin
in the control category.
[kenny] I tell you what, if free shipping had
more than one tire in the mix,
ray billings may have been in serious trouble.
But give credit to the king for this move right here,
bullying free shipping up into the screws.
[chris] was that the moment that swung this match?
Let's go to faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
[crowd cheering]
the winner by unanimous decision is--
-oh, please, please, please. -[laughs]
tombstone!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] ray billings.
Good job, good job.
Hi, ray, it has not been easy for you
but you are 2-1 through three fights.
You know, it's been a tough season
but, you know, robot's in a good shape,
we're ready to head in to the tournament
and get another giant nut, that's what we're here for.
Ray, what happened with that primary weapon there?
You had some great hits, you were picking off tires
and all of a sudden it shut down.
Yeah, if I could have got another 10-15 seconds
out of it, I would've got that last tire, you know,
we would have been okay.
We'll take it to back and apart and see what,
I'm sure it's something small,
we'll figure it out, we'll be ready to go from here.
[chris] 2-1.
And certainly making your statement
to the selection committee.
-Thank, ray. -All right. Thanks, guys.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny, it's interesting,
we talk about this all the time,
not all 2-1 records are the same.
How would you assess tombstone's season so far?
Listen, it comes down to strength of schedule, right?
The quality of the teams that you're fighting
and what kind of fights you delivered.
Are they exciting fights?
Are you being aggressive out there?
And tombstone is absolutely doing that.
[chris] and speaking of exciting fights,
we know the wolf of bot street, gary gin
is certainly disappointed with a winless record this season.
But hey, hats off to a guy who brings it every single fight
and always puts on a show, win or lose.
We'll see you next year, buddy.
When we return, will david jin and ribbot
be a bully frog on their way to a 3-0 start?
Or will p1 and brandon zalinsky make them roadkill
as they take the checkered flag
in a race to 3-0.
That's up next on battlebots.
[chris] we are back on battlebots.
It has been a sensational evening of qualifying action
here in las vegas.
And later tonight,
two marquee teams are on a quest
for a perfect 3-0 record.
As defending champion, end game
takes on jamison go and sawblaze.
Let's take a look at tonight's main event.
Oh! Oh, my gosh!
That is it, end game
is taking the giant nut back overseas.
Last year was great but we wanna show
that we're not one and done.
We're here for another nut.
[faruq] end game!
End game is constantly improving every year,
we make the robot better.
We're not gonna rest on our laurels.
Everyone should be scared of us 'cause we're not stopping.
[chris] end game standing over its prey,
saying, "don't you dare get up."
I mean, there's a chance, everyone's got a target for us.
They've been thinking for a whole year
how they gonna beat end game.
And they're not gonna do it.
[chris] sawblaze lands a power shot with a hammer saw.
[nick] you can't be a champion,
unless you beat the champion.
[faruq] it's sawblaze!
Yeah!
End game, they're a dangerous robot.
We've seen what they can do.
[chris] oh, my god, end game has done the unthinkable.
With this matchup, the selection committee is saying,
"we wanna see if you're gonna sweat,
if you're gonna fall apart. This is the test."
we're ready for this, we're gonna rise to the challenge.
Yeah! Hell yeah!
[nick] this fight is gonna be a driver's fight.
Jamison is a very, very good driver.
He's gonna be trying to get on to us
and get us all into outsides
and threw our top as much as he can.
[chris] sawblaze is establishing its dominance
like a rottweiler.
We've got a much more powerful weapon,
so if he wants to go weapon-to-weapon with us,
he's gonna lose every single time.
Get him, get him!
[chris] oh! What a shot by end game.
We're gonna be using the same configuration,
we've been using in our previous fights.
We have our center fork
and we have the two long forks on the end.
What's gonna be slightly different about this fight,
is that end game is also gonna be using their long forks.
So, how those two play together in the first
five to ten seconds,
is gonna dictate how the match is gonna go.
Yeah! How do you like that?
How do you like that?
Both of us are 2-0, both of us have really tough schedules.
This match is to decide the first seed for the tournament.
[jamison] this robot is looking
the best it ever looked,
is performing rock solid.
This is gonna be sawblaze's year.
[chris] jamison go taking full advantage of this.
There's gonna be carnage.
There's gonna be a little bit of fire.
Someone's gonna be flying through the air.
There's gonna be a bloodbath.
Let's go!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] do not miss that wild matchup, folks.
It's the main event and it is just around the corner.
But right now, it's another pair of 2-0 teams,
looking to finish their season undefeated,
ribbot versus p1.
Let's start with ribbot and david jin,
they had a remarkable run a season ago,
all the way to the quarterfinals.
So, anything that they do here in 2021,
we should not be shocked.
[kenny] that's right, these kids came here in 2019
with a foam frog suit on their bot
and some thought they were bit of a joke.
Now, they have nine career wins,
every single one by knockout.
David admitted he was overwhelmed by the lights
and sounds of the battlebots at the start of his career
but the game has slowed down for him
here in his third season.
This is a dangerous team
just starting to hit their stride.
What about brandon zalinsky and p1?
Yes, they did have a knockout so far
and they won a judge's decision against valkyrie,
-a very decorated robot. -[kenny] yup.
[chris] now, if you beat ribbot
and you improve to 3-0, boy, brandon zalinsky
might be running around here going crazy.
[kenny] he would be fired up,
this has been a breakout season for p1.
But before we get ahead of ourselves,
the last time they faced a vertical spinner,
copperhead completely demolished it.
Brandon redesigned this wedge on the wake of that loss
and p1's new split wedge gives it more reach,
it almost acts like a stiff arm in football
by keeping its opponents at a distance.
Let's see how it holds up against a robot
as violent as ribbot.
Faruq, take it away.
[faruq] in the red square,
if you thought he was kermit, you best make a correction
'cause this frog's here to show you
the pain before connection.
He might look like a muppet but he's here to rock you,
he'll hit you so hard, you can't walka-walka.
Here comes ribbot!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] there's captain david jin and ribbot.
And hey, kenny, check out the new paint job on the frog.
[kenny] yeah, they're continuing that tradition
of mimicking their opponents color scheme.
They've added some forks on the front of the robot
and they're going with their
vertical spinner for this fight.
Clearly, looking to keep that impressive
knockout streak intact.
[faruq] in the blue square,
racing has the daytona 500
and one at indianapolis too.
500 laps and you better not crash
or else you're probably screwed.
But enter a race with this bot
and I have to question your wisdom
because when we say the p1 500,
we're not counting laps,
we're counting victims.
It's p1!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] brandon zalinsky and p1
coming into this fight 2-0
and it's been a pretty, pretty, pretty good year
for them so far, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, for their first win they went the distance
against last year's most destructive bot in valkyrie.
So, we know how durable they are.
[chris] and brandon is determined to make a name
for lifter wedge bot in the sport
where we see so many dangerous disc spinners.
We'll see if his approach to winning inside the box can deliver tonight.
I think p1's a little hard to beat
because they have a lot of armor up front.
They're really fast and they can self-right.
It's gonna be really important that we win the low game.
We wanna make sure that we're able to get under their wedge
to hit the bottom edge of it.
I expect him to try to do some fancy driving
and we gotta be prepared to make sure we always hit him
with the front of our robot.
In order to win this fight against ribbot,
it's gonna have to be a lot of incredibly precise driving.
Not letting them get to our sides, to our rear
and being able to either out wedge them
or come from an angle that's not directly on the front.
Being able to get under them, get them over
and then either having their weapon break
by hitting the floor
or forcing them to use their self-righter
over and over again until it breaks.
[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] look at these two lining up for the race.
[kenny] oh, oh! There goes the spoiler.
Ribbot has nine career wins all by the way of knockout,
can it make it ten?
Or will p1 race its way to an undefeated season?
Find out when battlebots continues.
[chris] welcome back to battlebots
where we have two undefeated teams ready to clash.
The winner will be on the fast track
for a high tournament seed.
It's ribbot and p1, right now.
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Ribbot runs over the spoiler it shed, before the bell.
Another nod to p1 there.
That vertical spinner is at full speed now.
Oh, a little love tap to the front of p1.
That was nice.
[kenny] both teams being very methodical
with their driving here to start.
[kenny] p1 hunting for the right angle.
And ribbot just kinda waiting for him.
-Just trying to keep that primary weapon pointed. -[chris] yup.
[kenny] that was a good opportunity for him right there.
Stay in the middle.
[kenny] p1 has a ton of respect for that
vertical spinner on ribbot.
Doesn't wanna take any big shots early.
-[chris] like that? -[kenny] yes.
[chris] david jin and ribbot looking for a bite.
-Trying to corner. -[kenny] oh!
[chris] and ripping it apart on the front.
[kenny] so far that split front wedge on p1
holding up nicely.
Absorbing these impacts.
It also has that back armor to use
to try and jam up their weapon.
[chris] uh-oh. All right, now ribbot has got p1 jammed.
And now look at p1, the strength to take it
out of the way across the box.
-And getting the pulverizer. -[kenny] oh, look at that.
[chris] nice solid shot again.
The hammer is doing severe damage
to the back side of ribbot.
[kenny] patience paying off for p1 here.
Nice strategy.
[chris] under 90 seconds to go,
p1 has got to release ribbot
which he did.
[kenny] p1 is so lower to the ground, chris,
that vertical disc spinner really hasn't got great hits.
Those forks are dropping in--
[chris] that's a good one, just over a minute to go.
P1 on the front of ribbot now,
that weapon is still spun off
and look at the rip in the brandon zalinsky's bot.
[kenny] oh, that's a serious damage on that
right side of that front wedge of p1.
[chris] pushing match here.
[kenny] like two bulls locking horns.
Oh, nice.
There goes the front wedge, that's the rest of it.
[chris] p1 is definitely gonna need a new paint job
from the pit crew.
[kenny] oh, those forks are busted up as well.
[chris] oh, can p1 make it to the closing bell?
Oh! Ribbot with the uppercut.
[kenny] great hit by ribbot.
[chris] great work by ribbot putting it on the upper deck.
P1 trying to find its way out.
Which way to go, got openings to the right.
Got openings to the left.
But it's just spinning into oblivion.
[kenny] yeah, he's lost, he's dizzy.
P1 just circling over and over again.
[chris] and look at ribbot, giving it an eye,
saying, "you come down here, I'll be ready for you."
oh, the countdown has started,
which one is gonna get there first?
-Oh, my goodness. -[referee] count out.
[buzzer sounds]
[chris] with one second left on the clock,
ribbot ko.
Well, we had a good old fashioned standoff
to start this fight, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, p1 clearly vary of that
dangerous vertical spinner on ribbot.
And david jin happy to wait for brandon zalinsky
to come to him.
[chris] p1 was able to get
underneath ribbot throughout this match.
Here it is, shooting ribbot across the box on two wheels.
Very, very impressive.
Took the frog over to the pulverizer
for some deadly massage therapy.
But eventually, ribbot found an opening.
[kenny] it only takes one good shot
from a bot as powerful as ribbot to change a fight.
Here it is, rocking p1.
Then with the follow up on to the upper deck.
Boom!
[chris] right off the battlebots sign
and see you next fight.
David. David you are 3-0
after yet another impressive performance.
-Thank you. -[crowd cheering]
yeah!
Would you have worked it for the full three minutes there?
I think we had all our systems working.
In the middle, we did lose a belt
so that scared us a little bit.
But the weapon kept going, the drag kept going,
I'm pretty happy.
All right, so david, you kinda have made your statement,
you know you're gonna be in the round of 32.
What do you think you've said
to the selection committee so far?
Um, I think we showed 'em
we have really good knockout potential.
Obviously, it's up to them who we fight next
but really excited for that.
And I think we're carrying a ton of momentum
going into the bracket.
All right, well, congratulations.
David jin. Team ribbot.
[crowd cheering]
look, kenny, ribbot, three fights, three knockouts.
By my math, that's pretty impressive.
[kenny] very impressive.
They've been really dominant
and they are a team to watch for sure.
[chris] as far as p1, now you gotta play
the waiting game, right?
A couple of impressive wins and there is
such a thing as an impressive loss at battlebots.
Yeah, listen, they were so close to going the distance,
it gets a devastating bot in ribbot.
They finish at 2-1, same record as last season.
They missed the cut in 2020, I think they have
a much stronger case this time around.
[chris] all right, when we come back,
it is time for the main event.
Two of our top bots put their perfect records on the line.
2-0 end game, 2-0 sawblaze.
Can jamison go knock off the champs,
find out next on battlebots.
[chris] oh, my goodness.
[kenny] malice doing some serious damage right now.
[man] after a fight, the cores of robot is gonna be damaged.
Fusion 360 and haas have teamed up to be here
at battlebots to help all the teams out.
They show us the part that got damaged
and we work with our machinist who are able to program
these machines that will then cut the material
to make them a whole new one.
[chris] oh! That's a huge hit right in the kisser.
We were able to use the haaspital with autodesk
to make us some additional skid pads for our robot.
Every time we go out, we have one of these
underneath the weapon.
We tend to wear through them,
so you can see this is a used one and this is one
of the ones that they've already finished for us.
And we're gonna have a whole pile of them to go through
every fight until the end now.
[man] there are lot of fights happening
and a lot of parts get damaged
so we're here working around the clock
to ensure that every robot is ready to fight
after every fight.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] we are back on battlebots
and it is time right now for our main event.
Two 2-0 teams,
the champ is in the house,
end game taking on jamison go and sawblaze.
But let's start with the bot created by jack barker
and nick mabey.
And when you are the defending champ,
sometimes people expect to have maybe a soft schedule
to start out the next season.
No!
Start of the year ko'ing hydra,
the last year's number one overall seed
heading into the round of 32.
Then they knocked out witch doctor,
who's the runner up in 2019.
These guys never complained about their schedule.
They said, "we don't care, we know we're good."
[kenny] yeah, that's right.
They've carried that momentum from last season.
They're looking like world champions again this year.
Very dominant.
[chris] as for sawblaze,
they've taken care of the m and m boys so far,
minotaur and madcatter in impressive fashion.
But jamison says,
"listen, when you're taking on the champ,
you gotta be impressive and you gotta knock 'em out
and then everybody will start paying attention to you."
[kenny] yeah, jamison go is on a mission this year
to win it all, the bot is more durable
and the weapon is hitting harder than ever
and they are coming for the champs tonight.
You know, the schedule makers,
when they put the regular season schedule out,
there's a few matchups you circle
at the beginning of the year.
-[kenny chuckles] -this is one of those.
It's end game, it's sawblaze and it's right now.
Faruq.
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
[crowd cheering]
it's time for the main event.
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] in the red square,
like chocolate and peanut butter, mmm-hmm.
Or pb and j.
Two great tastes that taste great together
can waste bots all day.
This potent pairing will make you remember his name.
You got fire in my buzzsaw,
you got blade in my flame.
Here to cut you into pieces like recess,
it's sawblaze!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] jamison go and sawblaze knows that
everybody back in the pits will be watching this tonight.
He is pumped up
and ready to take on the champs.
[kenny] yeah, jamison go is always motivated,
he'll never be happy until he's the number one
bot in the world, he's been close.
But man is he looking good this season.
[faruq] in the blue square,
you can't kill a bot who comes from new zealand.
You may eat a kiwi but you can never beat 'em.
It's not australian, it's australian adjacent.
And if you face him, just forfeit,
let him kill your replacement.
It's end game!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] has end game bought into its own hype?
[kenny] absolutely. [laughs]
[chris] and why not, man.
That bot is just as destructive as anyone here.
[kenny] that may be an understatement, chris.
Eight of their last nine wins have come via the knockout
and check out the long forks on the front of end game.
This team knows the importance
of winning the battle for low ground
in a high stakes fight like this one.
[chris] and for more on this matchup,
let's bring in our bot whisperer.
Pete, what is gonna make sawblaze go tonight?
Well, the big difference between this sawblaze
that it is from last year
is they've added what they call, the cheeks.
On the edges, on the sides are these very thick
uhmw pieces of plastic
that are designed to take impacts from spinners,
whether they're horizontal or vertical.
Now, if you look at end game,
they've gone back to an older disconfiguration,
in which their weapon belts are less exposed
and should be more protected against strikes from above.
And that's gonna be one key to winning this match,
is keeping sawblaze from cutting those belts.
[chris] it's gonna be a great one,
there's no question about it.
End game got a little old school with its weapon,
jamison go and sawblaze are ready to show that
"we're not the new kids on the block
but we might be the new number one."
[announcer] robots activate.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] red team, ready?
We're in the end game now.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] blue team, ready?
Gotta beat the best to be the best.
Damn straight.
We got this.
[crowd chanting] fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
The bots meet in the center of the box.
Sawblaze shows end game its back side.
Oh, my goodness!
Are you kidding me?
A miscalculation,
end game took full advantage of it.
[referee] nine, eight, seven--
[chris] all jamison go can do is laugh.
[referee] three, two, one, knock out.
[buzzer sounds]
[chris] pain is palpable.
'cause he's done in 29 seconds,
courtesy of the champ.
Wow!
So, what did you learn?
I think kenny learned, do not turn your back
on a world champion.
[kenny] no, they will take full advantage of it.
I mean, that is literally the fight right there.
Jamison got exposed
and end game went right there for the kill.
[chris] and you know, sometimes, bots try
and flip another one out of the arena,
I don't think that's the case with end game,
it was just the end result.
Nick mabey, jack barker.
-Hey. -What took you so long?
I'm sorry, you know, he did a couple of spins,
we were a bit late in there, you know.
Yeah, we just got behind him and just decided to sand him,
you know, we weren't trying to send him out but we just
had him in our grasp and just drive him forward
and that's where he ended up, so.
That is by far not how I saw this match ending at all.
I was prepared to go,
to go, like, minutes of beating on each other.
What did you expected and what do you think happened
to jamison out there?
I don't know, he just exposed his back to us
and, I mean, we have to take advantage of it.
Yeah, I think looking at how much top armor we have on,
tells you how we expected that to go.
[chris] so, three fights this year,
hydra, witch doctor, sawblaze.
You have knocked them all out.
[crowd cheering]
have you impressed even yourselves?
Ah... We always knew we could do it.
[all laughing]
look, the robot's performing well.
We put a lot of effort in this year
and a lot of work, the whole team's been working so hard,
so you know, to take three wins in the pre-season
is the first time we've done that,
we're absolutely stoked to do that.
Anything from here,
we're gonna be trying our hardest again.
But, you know, we can go home happy now, I think.
Yeah, yeah. We've been working like late into night,
early in the morning for these last couple days
and it feels really good it's paying off.
Any question, you guys are gonna be the one seed
in that round of 32?
Nah.
I think a quick knockout against sawblaze gives us that.
All right, guys, congratulations.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] ah, jamison?
-I hear no bell. -[laughs]
let's go, I want a rematch, right now.
[crowd cheering]
well, that was kind of freakish, what happened?
We tried to take position early on,
got caught on the kill saw.
So, after that, just trying to get around,
he did a little hot maneuver.
And our plan was to, well, I'm not gonna tell him now
'cause we're gonna have a rematch.
But it didn't work.
And then they used the arena to their advantage.
So, the holes aren't meant for us.
I know you wanted to use this as a learning opportunity,
what did you learn about end game?
Ah, I learned that
sawblaze can fly.
I learned that their spinner can hit.
And... I learned that
I really wanna take 'em out even more.
[all chuckling]
jamison, hopefully, somewhere down the line,
you'll have that shot. Thanks as always.
Thanks.
[crowd cheering]
oh, kenny, it's a good thing that jack barker
and nick mabey of end game don't get paid by the minute
because they'll be dirt poor.
That was an unbelievable finish
in less than 30 seconds.
[kenny] just crazy, you know, they faced a murderous road
this season, so far,
and just, all knockouts, I mean, they've been
so dominant, just amazing what they've done.
They took full advantage of sawblaze
and that is a tremendous team.
[chris] big picture here tonight,
you saw tombstone take care of business,
ribbot improved to a 3-0, so good for them.
But we have the upset
not only of the season,
but maybe since we started watching this thing in 2015.
Glitch, in just its second ever fight,
ko of hydra.
[kenny] might be the upset of the season
and the comeback of the season as well.
They got flipped up in the air,
it looked like they were gonna get knocked out,
they came back and got the knock out
over hydra, just unbelievable.
[chris] as always, this was a ton of fun to watch.
For faruq,
our bit whisperer, pete, my man, kenny florian,
I'm chris rose, I'll see you next time
here on battlebots.
[crowd cheering]