[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Hey, everybody, and welcome to battlebots,
Your number one destination for the finest in mechanical madness.
I am chris rose and joined by my partner in crime,
Ufc legend and top tier robot fighting analyst, say hello to kenny florian.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[kenny] thanks, chris, I'm so excited to be here on night two
Of the 2021 battlebots world championship tournament.
[chris] last time, we watche eight teams stamp
Their passports to the second round.
Among them, the number one seed end game
And, kenny, the defending champs scored a knockout victory
In just 56 seconds while taking almost no damage at all.
[kenny] that's right, chris, and that is somethin to look out
For tonight in a field chockful of deadly weapons.
It's not just about winning here in the tournament,
It's about keeping your robot intact
And firing on all cylinders as you advance.
[chris] tonight, the 16 remaining teams in quadrants
Two and three will look to do just that in the hope of moving
One step closer to hoisting the most prestigious trophy
In all of robot combat, the giant nut!
Let's take another look at the bracket and preview tonight's action
We're gonna flip it around for you at home to make it easier to follow
The legendary tombstone enters as the 23 seed after an up and down year.
But former champion ray billings says you've never seen
A 23 seed hit as hard as I d
Throw the numbers out the window when tombstone enters the box.
[kenny] standing in its way the hometown favorite jackpo
5-0 all time in the qualifiers,
But still hunting for its first ever tournament win.
Can the boys from las vegas live up to their top 10 billing?
We're going to find out.
[chris] and in a showdown th may just shake the arena to its foundation,
The 14 seed cobalt will collide with the sultan of smash,
The 19th ranked, yeti.
[kenny] my goodness, what a matchup, two kinetic weapons,
Two fearless drivers, and a panel of three judges
That can probably sit this one out.
One of these robots is leaving in a body bag,
[chris] but to kick things off,
It's a battle for the number 31 seed.
As hydra takes on defender in a high stakes play-in match.
Winner will face the number seed ribbot at the end of the night.
Are you guys ready?
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Faruq, take it away.
Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?
It's robot fighting time!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
In the red square, I look at this bot's name
And I'm like, "I see what you did there."
Most bots call themselves something aggressive, it's a tactic to scare.
He could have went with doomsday or grim reaper,
But this name makes sense because after he kills you, he can claim self-defense.
Give it up for defender!
[chris] and here comes the vasquez clan and team defender
Looking for a win and a tick to the round of 32.
Kenny, how does jason vasque approach fighting a bot as powerful as hydra?
[kenny] well, he's going with the same fork configuration
That his brother matt used to beat hydra with whiplash
In last year's quarterfinals
Now, jason doesn't have the driving experience that matty does,
But if he can manage to get underneath hydra with those forks,
That could be a game changer
[faruq] in the blue square, straight out of wisconsin,
The home of the cheeseheads, when this bot sees a fight,
He just thinks, "yeah, he's dead."
He flips a bot farther than an aaron rodgers throw,
Tells his enemies, "packer your bags 'cause you're going home."
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome...
Hydra!
[chris] after going one and two in the qualifiers,
Last year's number one seed is now fighting for his tournament life,
Jake ewert still cracking that sarcastic smile, kenny
He's been wrestling gremlin all season long,
Trying to get hydra flippin on all cylinders.
[kenny] yeah, he's got a little bit of a smile,
But he doesn't have a big smile
Because he's been really upset at this robot.
Been very frustrated in the pits.
Can't figure out what the issues are.
Jake's going with a brand-new frame tonight.
He's completely rebuilt the robot, so we'll see,
It's win this fight or pack and head back to wisconsin.
[chris] okay.
We are moments away from lighting this candle.
And remember, be sure to head over to battlebots.C
To fill out your tournament brackets
And keep up with all of tonight's action.
[man] yeah, hydra.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] these two were part of a logjam of talent
Vying for a spot in the top this season.
The selection committee said you know what, fight for it
Winner gets the 31st seed and will face ribbot.
Let the play match begin.
Defender got stuck on the battlebots floor
And hydra took advantage of it.
[kenny] hydra lost one of those long front fork in the process, chris.
[chris] whiffed a big flip opportunity there
Oh! It missed that one.
[kenny] that's what they're looking for, both these robots,
Chris, are so low to the ground,
They're getting caught up on the battlebots floor.
[chris] even so, it's hydra that's winning the battle
For low ground here in the early going
In terms of getting underneath defender.
But I think you're right, kenny, hydra's mobility
Looks to be compromised a bit here.
Jake ewert can't be happy with that.
[kenny] oh!
[chris] I think he likes tha though.
Already, two of the better flips this season out of hydra,
Defender has got to be careful here.
[kenny] looks like hydra kind of let defender off the hook there,
Kind of waited for him to self-right,
Could have gone right back in there for another shot.
Whoa!
[chris] serious air time. An defender
Landed on top of the pulverizing to boot.
[kenny] defender is still moving.
[chris] but barely. Hydra's got it cornered right in front
Of the driver shaft. Took the battlebot sign off with that flip.
Hey, we're gonna put that on your tab, jake ewert.
[kenny] I think that flip may have destroyed that grapple
On the top of defender. Landed right on it, chris.
[chris] defender is still able to move for now.
Can it find a way to turn the tide?
Oh, I think hydra wants to flip it out.
Hydra trying to flip defende out of the arena.
Defender hanging in, though, jake ewert needs to finish the job.
You can't take any chances here in the tournament.
Oh!
On top of the upper deck.
[kenny] oh, that's it.
[chris] yeah, and defender will not be able to right itself.
And it is gasping for air.
And that's why this shelf sucks because I can't play with my toy anymore.
[chris] jake ewert talking trash to the camera
Why not, my man?
[referee] ten, nine...
[chris] jason vasquez can on smile as he waves goodbye
To his hopes and dreams this 2021 season.
And that's a knockout.
[chris] hydra is moving on to the round of 32.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] well, hydra back working.
[kenny] yeah, that was awesome.
Hydra just kind of waited for defender, had his moments,
Getting underneath him right there.
That's some serious air.
[chris] and that is a 250-pound robot
Getting tossed 12 feet high people.
Let that sink in.
[kenny] jason vasquez was just outmatched here, chris.
Give credit to defender for hanging in and looking durable,
But hydra airlines was in full effect in this one.
[chris] yeah, there's a lot bots that have gotten
Frequent flyer miles, courtesy of that one.
And then the finishing shot get on up there and just chill.
Hey, jake.
Hi, guys.
Now that's how it's supposed to work.
[chris] so when you're seeing your opponent fly through the air,
How much fun are you having?
I went really, really slow and methodical.
I didn't want to, like, do anything silly
And let them underneath me,
So that's why I was missing a lot.
Well, jake, you had to earn your way just to get into the round of 32
For all the people back in the pits that have counted out hydra,
What do you have to say to them?
You know, you should never.
Eventually, it's gonna work, right?
And then it does that.
So I mean.
[chris] in your eyes, are you still the favorite to win the giant nut?
If I can beat ribbot, I mean, I'd take the number two seed over
And then it should be pretty clear sailing from there, right?
-Wow. -So that's...
That's actually a really good spot for me.
All right, jake, we'll see you later taking on ribbot.
Thanks, guys.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] so, jake ewert handles his business
And flips hydra into the round of 32.
Stay tuned for his showdown with david jin and ribbot
At the end of the night.
For young jason vasquez, wanted to spread his wings
This year and he did just that.
We say goodbye for now, but I'm sure we'll see him lending a helping hand
To team whiplash as they begin their tournament run.
Coming up, the round of 32 kicks back into high gear
As the master of the massacr cobalt throws down with the frozen behemoth yet
That's the 19 versus
14 mashup, and it's coming your way next on battlebot.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament.
Round of 32 continues right now as we head
To quadrant number 3 for a matchup between the 14th seed cobalt
And the 19th seed yeti.
Let's start with cobalt.
First fight didn't go as planned.
Second fight goes for after it, they're still scraping
That thing off the floor as we speak.
And then in their last fight they did things to gruff that
It's too dirty to talk about, to be honest, here.
Cobalt is pointed in the right direction.
[kenny] yeah, this team has a ton of momentum going int this tournament
After those two vicious knockouts.
It took a week for the guys in the lincoln electric ten
To weld their victims back together.
They have a world class driver in matt maxham.
And the bot is hitting harde than ever,
This is a very dangerous 14 seed.
-Except they're about to run headfirst into yeti. -Yeah.
Literally. Greg gibson is back at the controls.
You know, when he came back because they missed
The entire 2020 season, he said, "I just kind of got to feel my way back it.
That is not the greg gibson way.
In the last two fights, he's gone full bore.
And do you expect to see more of the same tonight?
[kenny] I do.
I think that in his first fight, he said,
I'm always so nervous when I start battlebots.
My first fight is always a kind of a throwaway.
And after that he's like, "I'm just cool, I'm relaxed.
So I think he's gonna be relaxed.
I think we're gonna have an awesome fight.
This is gonna be a ton of fun to watch.
Faruq.
[faruq] in the red square from san luis obispo, california,
He's bringing hairy back, it's yeti.
[chris] if you're just checking out yeti for the first time this season,
You're like, how can you los so much weight?
Yeah, it's about 80% the size of the bot
The last time you saw it a few years ago,
But it still can deliver some pain.
[kenny] yeah, a little sleeker, a little thinner,
But still has that yeti styl
Yeah, they basically just go out there and smash.
There's not a whole lot of strategy to what they do.
They go face first right into the other bot
And they try to break as many pieces as they can.
[faruq] in the blue square, the bot with only one fulltime job
On its resume, kicking your ass.
It's cobalt.
[chris] and here comes the mean green machine, cobalt.
Keep your eye on the man pushing out the bot
That is matt maxham, legendary driver.
Uber intense.
He is ready to get it going
[kenny] no doubt, you know, after years of piloting control bots,
It's taken matt a few fight to get used to the insane
Power of cobalt's vertical spinner.
Let's see if he can keep it together here against yeti.
The tournament is pure adrenaline.
And matt's gonna need to tr and keep his heartbeat under control here.
[chris] yeah, right.
Cobalt's a big rig.
It's well armored, so it's gonna have to be a control game
And take as little damage as possible.
Matt maxham and I go back 15 plus years.
There probably aren't many people in this buildin
That have more fights under the belt than he does
And he's won most of them.
Matt's a fantastic driver.
Greg's a fantastic driver.
This is gonna be a great driving match.
Yeti is a formidable competitor.
They've got some really nice long forks.
And they... If they can get under you,
They're gonna send you to the moon.
So I'm trying really hard to dance around them a little bit,
Try to get under them.
It's gonna be a ground game if we can stay underneath him, I think we'll be fine.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[chris] you know who's literally jumping out of his seed right now.
He is so excited.
Yeah, that's our bot whisperer, pete. Why?
Why wouldn't I jump out of my seat?
I mean, it's cobalt. Right, guys?
So, cobalt is one of the few weapon discs
That's very specifically designed for a certain action.
So here's a model of cobalt.
You'll see it's got some small teeth.
These teeth are designed to start the lift of the other robot.
While it keeps doing that the big hit comes,
Knocking the other robot away as we've seen in previous fights.
[chris] well, that makes sense, pete
Because kenny's got the same sort of jacked up teeth.
There's some huge ones in the back
-That can do some serious damage. -Wow.
-Yeah, but the beard hides it all. -[kenny] wow.
No respect.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[indistinct]
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] better grab your dramamine because I have a feeling
One of these bot is about to go airborne.
What's the worst could happen?
Do your thing, man, you're gonna done great.
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Teams meet in the center of the box.
Both weapons up to full speed, cobalt looking to pull the yeti.
Oh, and a little out of control there.
[kenny] oh, look at that defensive maneuver there from greg gibson.
[chris] really interesting. How about a front...
Oh!
So much for defense.
Oh, yeti's got cobalt on the run and flipped him over.
[pete] cobalt needs to keep their gyroscopic motion under control here.
Yeti taking advantage and getting underneath them in the early going.
[chris] two destructive weapons, two fearless drivers.
Who's gonna flinch first here?
Oh!
That's a big hit.
Yeti self-rights squares up back in the action.
Great recovery there from greg gibson.
[kenny] yeah, that was smooth.
[chris] yeti has... Oh! What a hit!
Huge airtime and now keep yo eye on yeti's weapon,
It is able to spin back up.
That power of cobalt, the great equalizer may have knocked out yeti.
Yeti having serious issues.
Yeti is trying to get its way back but with only one fork,
He might be screwed.
Is cobalt even gonna get in there?
He might not to.
Maybe yeti is just trying to impress us with one arm push-ups.
-[laughing] -[referee] ten, nine...
Come on, we're still in this fight. We got it.
[chris] he's not gonna get it done because they ar being counted down
And their season is done.
[man] knockout.
[chris] cobalt's weapon, oh-so powerful.
They are on to the round of 16.
Wow.
[chris] kenny, when two robo this destructive spin up,
There is very little margin for error.
[kenny] absolutely.
You saw cobalt a little out of control to start this match,
Gyroing and leaving itself open for attack.
Yeti landed a few shots, but greg gibson just couldn' finish the job.
[chris] and if you let matt maxham to hang around too long,
Eventually he's gonna hit paydirt.
Yeti able to self-right at least that time.
But then you see another massive shot by cobalt.
-[kenny] wow. -[chris] and that was not a soft landing.
[kenny] no, not at all.
Not fun when you go up that high and you land on your face.
[chris] wow. Oh.
[kenny] what goes up must come down.
What a crazy hit there by cobalt.
[chris] brent rieker, matt maxham,
Congratulations, you guys are on to the round of 16.
Whoo-hoo!
Can't tell you how good that feels.
A lot happened out there. Can you take us through the fight?
Can you tell me what happened 'cause I don't remember much.
It went pretty good.
We were getting hung up.
He got me, he threw me a couple times.
I did not want to go up to his forks.
I wanted to try and get around him.
It's just hard to do because I'm used to turning really quick.
And with these vertical spinners, it's hard to do that
Without flying all over the place.
But it worked.
I mean, he got some good hits, I got some good hits and it...
Wow.
[chris] matt, you've driven a few bots in your time.
How does this weapon rank?
Uh, holy cow.
I mean, it's... It...
I've never been behind a weapon like this before.
Most of my bots are, you know, lifters, control bots.
This thing, this thing is just a obliterator.
It's... It's crazy. It's awesome.
Well, congratulations.
We'll see you in the next round, guys.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
[chris] we told you to buckle up before that fight,
There was gonna be some powerful weaponry used,
And well, a lot of it came from cobalt.
Yeah, in the mixed martial arts world,
You call that one punch knockout power.
It's rare that you see it too often.
Cobalt has it.
That was just amazing.
[chris] and how great was it to see yeti back in the game?
It was great, and I hope we see him back.
Greg has really improved as a technical driver, in my opinion as well.
I thought he showed some really cool,
Defensive and offensive maneuvers out there.
It was close until it wasn't
[chris] yep, cobalt just too much in this one.
Up next for them in the roun of 16 will be the winner of whiplash versus ice wave
All right, coming up, tombstone tries to make jackpot
Crap out as these two cruisers fight
For their spot in the next round.
That's coming your way next on battlebots.
[chris] welcome back to battlebots, where it is tournament time
We continue on with the round of 32.
Up next, it is the 23 seed tombstone taking on the number 10 seed
Las vegas' own jackpot.
And when you talk about the former champ tombstone,
It has recorded 20 knockouts that is more than any bots since the 2015 season.
However, ray billings did not get one in his three matches in 2021.
Is this a different tombstone we're seeing?
[kenny] it's tough. Listen, I think the field ha gotten stronger
And people are prepared for him.
You know, after you've been out there for a while,
You could kind of see the blueprint.
You know how to adjust, you know what modifications you need.
There have been whispers back in the pits
That the game has passed ray by.
So the stakes for him and tombstone here are simpl
Dominate, move on to the round of 16
And silence the critics, end of story.
[chris] well, the former champ's road
Begins with the hometown heroes from vegas, jackpot, a perfect 5-0
In the qualifiers over the last two seasons.
Bounced in the round of 32 last year.
This is a scary weapon, but a very tough draw here
For the 10 seed facing a killer like tombstone.
They feel their weapon is better than last season.
Last season, their weapon was hitting very hard.
But this fight is going to boil down to
Which bot can take a lickin and keep on ticking.
These are two offensive mind teams that simply
Try and out punch their opponents.
I guarantee we're gonna see some box rattling weapon on weapon action here.
Let's see who's left standin after the dust settles.
-Fun one to watch. Faruq. -Yeah.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
In the red square, this bot will steal your wheel and crush your morale,
Lights you up like the shootout at the o.K. Corral.
He'll fill you with holes and then say with a laugh,
"what was this you wanted to know your appetite?"
It's tombstone!
[chris] season got started on the wrong end.
Knocked out by captain shredrator then won
A decision against mammoth and free shipping.
Ended up as the 23rd seed, the lowest they've ever had coming into the tournament.
So, kenny, what exactly can we expect from tombstone here tonight
[kenny] listen, ray billing said he doesn't give a damn about where he's seeded.
He's been here before and said records don't matte
When the tournament starts, every team 0-0,
And he's ready to remind everyone why he should still be considered
The most feared bot in the world.
[faruq] in the blue square, from the nevada,
The bot with hometown advantage.
He'll outclass you in every way.
He's got swag you can't manage.
He's the king, you're the impersonator.
He's blackjack, your keno.
He's the bellagio. You're a circus-circus.
He's vegas, you're reno.
It's jackpot!
[chris] here comes jackpot led by the tandem of jeff waters
And robert stehn.
Broke into the tournament with wins over deadlift and malice.
But are they ready to box with the king of kinetic energy, kenny?
[kenny] well, jackpot's bee fitted with ar500 steel armo this season,
So that's a good start.
But remember, this bot was initially put together for about 5,000 bucks,
Which is far less than most other machines here.
So I'm not sure how easily its internals could stand up to
A direct shot from tombstone but I have a feeling
We're gonna find out in the first 10 seconds of this fight.
I don't think we're really gonna have any weird strategies
Or anything in this match, we're just gonna spin up and hit them,
And I think that's probably all they're gonna do too.
So it's gonna come down to who can stay reliable the longest.
I believe this match will go quickly.
One or the other of us is gonna get the right hit at the right time
To knock the other out, so I believe it'll end up in knockout.
And I'm pretty sure we're gonna be the one knocking them out.
Tombstone's a hard hitter.
You know, it's about surviving those hits.
What we're gonna try to do is, you know, destabilize his blade
First with the wedge, and we're gonna try to snap off that bar.
We always try to go for a knockout.
I mean, if you're gonna have a fight, make it spectacular.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
I really do love this sport.
[chris] tombstone, one of th most famous combat robots of all time.
Jackpot looking to make a na for themselves here tonight
Let the bot battle begin.
A huge hit out of the gate by both.
Wow.
Both seem to be okay.
Whoa. I felt that.
Holy smokes, jackpot's guts are hanging out on the right side of the robot,
But it looks like it still has drive.
Tombstone, on the other han is still seeing stars and uh-oh.
Kenny, is ray billings in trouble?
Oh, my god, tombstone is in here.
[kenny] tombstone is hurt badly, chris.
Ray's gonna have to show some movement
Or he's gonna get counted out here.
Ten, nine, eight...
[chris] tombstone is being counted out
Because it's only going in circles.
And all ray billings can do is wait
- As his season has come to an end. -Knocked out.
[chris] unbelievable, jeff waters realizing the dream of an lifetime.
And it's the las vegas kid perhaps had found some luck in his pot.
He is on to the round of 16
Kenny, you knew with tombstone, the big hits were coming.
[kenny] oh, my goodness, look at that, weapon on weapon,
Both bots sent in opposite directions.
And here's the second one sent jackpot's top armor
Flying off just an insane amount of energy traded in that collision.
I felt that shot in my chest
[chris] and so did tombstone as that was the blow that di
End the former champ, lost half its drive, was left to spin in circles
As its season simply slipped away.
Ooh!
[chris] hey, jeff.
-Yeah. -You just beat tombstone in the round of 32.
[cheering]
[jeff] we, we're doing a lot better this year than we were last year.
Last year, we beat a former legend, lockjaw.
And we're gonna one up this year with tombstone.
So the only thing we got here from now as far as goals is to go for that nut.
Robert, were you surprised that your bot was that durable?
You took two serious shots.
Yeah, I mean, we were trying not to let ray spin up,
But ray's an amazing driver and danced around us.
And, man, those hits were big.
The top plate came right off.
We almost lost that one.
If he kept spinning afterwards,
And, you know, we might have been in a bad situation.
Few robots are doing it better than jackpot these days.
Guys, congratulations.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
You got that.
[chris] so congrats to team jackpot.
They live to fight another d in front of their home crow
And will face the winner of blip versus valkyrie,
Which you will see later on tonight.
But of course, the headline coming out of this one
Has to be tombstone bowing out in the first round.
I can't ever see a day where tombstone is fully retired,
But the sport is getting younger and younger
And more innovative by the year.
[kenny] I think there comes a time where you kind of
Get the most out of your robot,
At a certain point, you can't make any more changes.
Perhaps ray feels like he could still come back with tombstone
And make it better, as oppos to coming up
With a completely different platform.
I don't know, we'll see.
[chris] well, after the brea is black dragon,
Powerful enough to take down mad catter to make martin mason say,
"oh, no."
Find out next on battlebot.
[chris] welcome back to battlebots where it I do or die
For all remaining teams as they continue their chas to be crowned world champion
We just witnessed team jackpot notch
Its first ever tournament wi sending the legendary tombstone packing.
But take a look at the parti gift that ray billings
Left for the boys from las vegas.
Holy crap, did he hit hard.
I mean, he caught us really good
And just ripped that piece of wedge out.
[chris] whoa.
You know, when you take a hit from tombstone,
It's not just the corner that got hit,
It's all throughout the frame,
There are shock loads that, you know, break welds or bend
Little pieces just out of tolerance.
[chris] well, looks like jackpot has a big rebuild on their hands.
We said at the start tonight
The tournament is indeed a marathon where the health
Of your robot means as much as anything.
Let's see if the hometown bo can get jackpot in shape in time
For the round of 16.
We continue on here in the round of 32. And, kenny
Looking forward to this matchup.
It is the 15th seed, mad catter taking on the 18th seed
And a semifinalist from a season ago, black dragon.
But let's start with martin mason.
Everybody loves his persona but don't sleep on how good this bot is.
[kenny] yeah, that's right.
You know, he gets a lot of attention, but people forget their bot is not a joke.
This thing hits really hard it's durable.
It's better than it was last season.
And just like mad catter, black dragon checks in
With a two in one regular season mark,
They battled some gremlins a year ago
And still made it all the wa to the semifinals.
Gabriel maia actually feels better about this bot this time around.
[kenny] yeah, that's right. He said he learned so much the last time.
These guys are really tired though, they're probably
First ones in the pit, the last ones to leave.
They've been working very, very hard,
And this is a very similar b to mad catter, should be interesting.
Come on, gabriel, pick it up.
You need a coffee or half caf, decaf mocha latte with a twist?
Let's get it going. It's the postseason.
Faruq, take it away.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[faruq] in the red square from minas gerais, brazil,
Making bodies hollow from rio to san paolo.
It's black dragon.
[chris] knockouts of ice wav and clawviper this season,
Its lone loss to the number six overall se in a decision to rotate her
Seems like no matter how high the stakes get, this team is all smiles.
[kenny] yeah, and don't be fooled by those smiles.
Those guys are absolute killers.
They are looking to strike first in this fight,
And they expect mad catter to box rush them.
They want to create some space, get that egg beater weapon up
To full speed and dance all over martin mason's bot like it's carnival.
[faruq] in the blue square from pomona, california,
Its only weakness is laser pointers.
It's mad catter.
[chris] here comes the rabi ragamuffin, martin mason and team
Mad catter knocked out yeti and rampage.
Their only loss was to the number four overall seed saw blaze.
[kenny] when do we come out with the martin mason battlebots bobblehead?
His point and stare can destroy bots alone.
Look at that.
[chris] hey, kenny, martin' reconfigured the bot for this matchup.
[kenny] yeah, he's going with an asymmetrical configuration tonight
To try and get under black dragon.
The bot may look a bit different,
But I expect we're still gon get a healthy dose of the smash mouth style
The wild man is known for.
We've never faced mad catter before
And this is going to be like a good match.
Like, both bots are really reliable.
I know they're fast, but I have... We have our strategies,
We try to keep our weapon speed up all the time.
I would try to keep on them, find the right spot at the right time.
I'm really confident in my bot.
Let me tell you, we're facing black dragon
And it's a good thing they named him that
Because that's the color of the trash bag
We're gonna be dragging him out of the arena in.
We got this crazy asymmetrical weapon system.
We're gonna take it up a notch.
We're gonna have a crazy, asymmetrical armor system for him.
We've got on one side what we call the sword.
It's a long wedge that sticks out to help get under him.
On the other side, we got a pontoon, that's good for diving in
And lifting him up so we can get a hit on those juicy bottom panels.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] mad catter, black dragon,
Two of the most powerful bot in the tournament,
They're about to beat each other senseless
For the right to move on to the round of 16.
The fight when battlebots continues.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournamen
Where we have the 15th seed mad catter versus the 18th seed black dragon.
It's all on the line here.
Winner moves on to the roun of 16, loser's season is ove
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Hard charge by mad catter, he gets offended.
Black dragon on the attack, getting underneath mad catte
But resets and the cat is back on its feet.
[kenny] mad catter off to an aggressive start,
But they made a mistake ther black dragon took full advantage of it.
[chris] listen to the hum of those weapons.
Serious energy inside that box.
[kenny] black dragon is winning the battle for low ground early,
And I'm not sure that asymmetrical configuration
For mad catter is doing it any favors.
[chris] here's mad catter trying to find an angle.
The bots lock horns, neither team willing to back down.
They're doing a deadly danc inside the box now.
Whoa. Oh!
Mad catter took off the lef front fork on black dragon in that exchange.
Let's see if that affects the brazilian's ground game as we move forward.
[kenny] there you go, chris
A nice shot by mad catter but a driving error there
As they go flying into the screws, black dragon able to capitalize again.
[chris] back and forth actio here in the round of 32.
And there goes the second fo off the front of black drago
Wow.
[kenny] this is just a nasty battle, chris.
[chris] the brazilians dictating the action now
With that powerful drive train.
[kenny] oh.
[chris] and they got their flamethrower working too.
Black dragon starting to wear down the big cat.
[kenny] yeah, right now we're seeing
A significant speed advantag for black dragon.
And there was a concern for martin mason
That he might be the more fragile robot, he's holding right now
But black dragon is all over mad catter.
[chris] more than halfway through.
Black dragon takes a shot from mad catter.
Great work from the college kid.
Very impressive.
Martin mason's squad looking to turn the tide in this fight.
Mad catter's weapon still going full bore.
[kenny] yeah, but their driv might be having some issues
Much slower than they were before, it seems.
[chris] we are heading into the homestretch in wha
Suddenly feels like a very close fight.
Which of these teams can make a big time push her
[kenny] well, right now, black dragon doesn't have any front wedges,
This could be a huge advanta for mad catter moving forwar
With under a minute to go.
[chris] under 45 to go and black dragon upends mad catter.
Mad catter tries to stay squared up to the brazilians
[kenny] black dragon just staying on and attacking the flanks.
That's really been the difference.
Black dragon has had the more controlled
And tactical approach in this fight.
[chris] except maybe when it comes to that wild flamethrower.
A berth in the round of 16 on the line.
Who's going to get it?
The 15th seed mad catter, the 18th seed black dragon, which is on fire now.
10 seconds remaining.
Here comes back mad catter.
That's a nice shot. Both bots still grinding away.
Mad catter underneath the brazilians.
And upends them as time expires.
Wow.
What a sensational round of 32 fight.
Whoa!
-Come on. -[chris] unbelievable.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] wow.
And there you see our panel of judges tallying their scorecards,
Scoring on an 11 points system.
5 to be awarded for damage, 3 apiece in the aggression and control categories.
Kenny, this was a barn burner.
How are the judges gonna break it down in your opinion?
[kenny] what a fight. Mad catter came out and basically challenged
The brazilians to a backyard brawl.
I thought black dragon did a great job of staying composed
Under the circumstances.
Team catter was super aggressive as always,
But did make some driving errors
That left the robot vulnerab to damage.
[chris] mad catter did rip off both of black dragon's front forks,
But it seemed to be compromised down the stretch
[kenny] no doubt it was havi drive trouble
And I have a feeling that's what this decision will come down to,
Which bot the judges feel was in better shape at the closing bell.
[chris] there's mad catter with that final flurry
As time expired, but was it enough?
It's time to find out who's headed to the round of 16.
Let's send it over to my man faruq.
The results from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
Judge jason scored the battle for black dragon.
Yeah!
Judge lisa scored the battle for mad catter.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Judge derrick scored the battle for the winner...
Black dragon.
Black dragon! Black dragon! Black dragon!
[chris] gabriel.
Oh.
How tough was it to sit through that judge's decision?
Oh, my god, my hands are shaking right now.
Oh, I'm so nervous.
We got a great fight.
Knowing what you just did out there against mad catter.
How far can you go in the tournament?
Okay. Oh, we're looking for the giant nut.
Gabriel, go celebrate,
You and the team and the duck.
-Yeah. -Congratulations, you're on to the round of 16.
Come on!
Bye, brazil!
Martin, did the judges get it wrong?
You know what, that was a great fight.
They're a great team, but all I saw was pieces of black dragon
All over that arena and there were no pieces of catter in there, man.
That's what I saw, folks.
You make your own decision.
Martin, we're gonna miss you, man.
Thanks for the fun and the entertainment.
You bet, man. See you next time. Whoo!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] kenny, it was appropriate, it was a split decision.
I think we were both confused about which way, you know,
We would have gone had we been in the judge's chair.
[kenny] that fight was back and forth.
It was just one of those nasty fights where if those were two humans,
Both would be going to the hospital.
-The hospital, they might be going to the morgue. -Yeah.
[chris] well, I don't know about the cat, but I sure enjoyed it.
Big shoutout to martin maso for always putting on a sho
And charging up the crowd.
That dude is indeed the man
But it is black dragon that survives and advances.
The brazilians move on to the round of 16
To face the winner of hydra versus ribbot.
Either way, that is going to be a can't miss fight.
When we come back, leanne cushing and valkyrie
Face off against aren hill and the rookie robot blip.
It's the ripper versus the flipper, and that's next on battlebot
We are back on battlebots round of 32.
Up next, it is the 7 versus 26 matchup, blip against valkyrie.
And let's start with the highest seeded rookie bo in the field,
That flipper blip, but it I not a rookie captain.
Aren hill, of course, led tantrum all the way
To the semifinals a season ago.
He is feeling great about the way that blip is running right now.
[kenny] yeah, blip has been very impressive,
Went 3 and 0 in the qualifiers.
And when you consider the fact that aren hill gave up control of tantrum,
A semifinals team to build an entirely new bot in blip
And is yet to lose a match, this guy could
Very well win multiple title over the course of his caree
And he's only 30 years old.
[chris] as for valkyrie, leanne cushing's bot went 2-1 with a loss to p1
And wins over two lower tie rookies
In triple crown and pardon my french.
Due to that light strength of schedule,
It was hard for them to secure a higher seed,
But they fought their way into the tournament
And it's a whole new ball game now.
[kenny] no doubt. Leanne is a veteran builder and a savvy tactician,
Valkyrie punched its ticket to last year's round of 16
By taking down another flipper bot in subzero.
But blip is a much faster opponent and is gonna be a tougher ou
Valkyrie has to get in clos to score damage points.
Can it do that without getting flipped?
That's the question.
And with this team, sometimes it's all about the weapon choice,
-So we'll see what they come out with. -Yeah.
Right now, faruq.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
In the red square, this bot has the same name
As a tom cruise flick, but beating her
Is mission impossible if you catch my drift.
She's beat a few good men burying opponents like a mummy.
And when there's a prize on the line, she's like, "show me the money!"
Give it up for our top gun, valkyrie.
[chris] here comes 2020's most destructive robot valkyrie.
Win, and they advance to the round of 16, lose, see you next year.
Kenny, what weapon are they going with here tonight?
[kenny] well, they've chose an ar500 blade called mr. Cavity.
It has nasty, sharpened s7 steel teeth
That should allow them to scoop underneath blip in the hopes
That it can cut into their armor and get to their internals.
[faruq] in the blue square, this bot might seem goofy,
But don't you dare laugh. Just 'cause he's got a funny face
Doesn't mean he won't break you in half.
Sure, he looks silly, but he can still take your life
Like an ice cream truck with cut brake lines or a clown with a knife.
It's blip.
[chris] blip, a perfect 3-0 this year,
Knockouts over rusty and overhaul, won a decisio against legendary
Donald hutson and lock jaw.
Aren hill there with the huge turn key.
This thing's been so much fu to watch.
[kenny] blip is ushering in a new generation of flipper technology, chris
It uses a flywheel system capable of firing the weapon arm
Repeatedly and at high speed
Aren says we've only just se the beginning of what this robot is capable of.
Tonight would be a good tim to take it to that next leve
[cheering]
So after facing our first flipper last year,
We did a bit of drop testing with our robot
And having it drive off the loading dock in various orientations
And we learned that nothing shakes loose, nothing dies.
So we're hoping that if we have to go up in the air, we will land safely.
And besides that, avoid that flipper at all costs.
Either sides, try to get him on his back and hopefully disable him.
Blip much like tantrum is a very small, dense,
Well armored, well driven robot.
And in the case of facing larger horizontal robots,
We have the durability to keep taking those hits
And be aggressive and stay on them.
So in this fight, you'll see blip playing fairly conservatively.
Our goal is to bully and... And shove around valkyrie
And get that blade stopped before we start giving them some airtime.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
Oh, no!
That pushes the button.
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Nice start by blip, aren hil
Going for the shot.
Doesn't mind sticking his face
Right in the weapon of valkyrie.
[kenny] yeah, that's one wedging armor, working really well so far.
Definitely popping valkyrie up in the air.
[chris] aren hill said he was gonna try
And break valkyrie's weapon before engaging with the flipper,
And it could be mission accomplished here in the first 20 seconds,
Kenny.
[kenny] oh, man, valkyrie's weapon does look to be down now,
Chris, and here comes blip.
[chris] trying to use the screws on the upper dec
To get valkyrie up top and he does.
Very nice.
Now remember, frederick moor the outstanding driver
Of valkyrie can't drive inverted
And comes back down to the playing surface.
[kenny] but valkyrie is kind of a sitting duck
Now without an active weapon, chris.
They're gonna have to find a way to score some points
By using the battlebox to their advantage.
[chris] oh!
Blip using gravity to its advantage.
Nice little flip there.
[kenny] aren hill showing a ton of patience so far,
Executing his game plan to perfection.
You can see him testing valkyrie,
Trying to get that timing right for the big flip.
[chris] here in the corner right in front of us, bounces.
Valkyrie off the post...
I was this close to getting a foul ball.
[kenny] I don't think you want to catch valkyrie.
[chris] yeah, that's a good call.
Again, with another flip of valkyrie.
[kenny] this is now a flippi assault from blip. Valkyrie
Gets tossed all around the battlebox right now.
[chris] one second valkyrie's right side up,
The next, they're inverted and losing drive, that's what we got here.
[kenny] and what's so impressive is valkyrie
Is just in awkward shape to play.
[chris] oh, blip not having any issue with it.
In the meantime, valkyrie's weapon hasn't been spinning at all
[cheering]
[chris] wow.
That was so high, I almost called for a fair catch.
Blip, nice work again. And again.
[kenny] oh.
[chris] that was for the judges to see.
And again.
[kenny] oh, my goodness.
[chris] now you can understa why leanne cushing was so fearful of blip.
[kenny] the flywheel technology that powers blip
Allows it to reset and trigg these flips so quickly, chri
And it's not like the old gas-powered flippers.
This thing has unlimited fli at its disposal.
[chris] you got to show me you got some kind of movement there, fred.
- Valkyrie's got to move. -[kenny] valkyrie is just
Kind of spinning in circles now.
They might be a little punch drunk or blip drunk at this point
[chris] and there's another one for you.
This is unbelievable, the performance by aaron hill and blip.
[kenny] oh, this is gonna be it.
That's the knockout blow right there, chris.
[chris] I do not think that valkyrie is gonna survive. Blip,
Now putting its own renditio on spin to win
As they're off to the round of 16.
Three, two, one. Knockout.
[alarm blaring]
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] and the crowd is on its feet.
Why not?
[chris] this was a masterclass in flipology.
[kenny] that's right. And aren hill was the distinguished professor
He told us he was going to take his time, wear valkyrie down
And then get that flywheel flipper going.
And he did all of that to perfection, made it look easy.
[chris] valkyrie was named 2020's most destructive robot.
Their weapon system was unstoppable last season
But tonight the blade lost function in the first 20 seconds,
And boy did blip capitalize
[kenny] 18 flips in this match, chris.
The ability that weapon has to reset and rapid fire
Like it does combined with the speed of blip,
That's a scary combination.
[chris] look at that one.
[kenny] reach for the stars valkyrie.
[chris] hard to believe something that looks so little can act such a big punch.
[kenny] oh.
[chris] flipped leanne cushing's bo 14 feet in the air,
Blip with a dominant win in its first ever tournament match,
Officially moving on to the round of 16.
Aren hill.
Hey there, how's it going?
We unofficially have you at 18 flips.
Right.
Yeah, okay.
How does that sound for your first ever playoff match?
Oh, pretty good. I know I think hydra had 23 once, so we got to,
We got to meet that bar at some point.
I know this is your first season, obviously with this robot,
You love learning about your bot.
What did you learn in this fight?
It's a brick.
But we knew that already.
It's nice to have it confirmed.
Aren hill, congratulations.
Boy, that was fun to watch.
Thank you, guys.
[chris] so for valkyrie, a tough season comes to a close.
But make no mistake about it this is a dangerous
And determined team that will be ready for a revenge tour come next yea
But it's aren hill and blip that are officially moving o to the second round,
Where they will have a date with the 10 seed jackpot.
Up next, aren hill's former bot
Takes center stage as the fists of fury.
Tantrum duels with the full body spinner of death, gigabyte.
It's the 11 v 22 matchup when the battlebots
World championship tournament continues.
[chris] welcome back to the world championship tournamen
Where the race for battlebot immortality continues.
As we take a look at the bracket,
Four more teams have secured their spots in the round of 16 tonight.
Up next, we will see tantrum duel with gigabyte.
Whichever bot survives that bout will go on to face the winner
Of the 6 versus 27 matchup.
Let's take a look at how that fight went down earlier tonight.
[chris] veteran full body spinner captain shredderato
Made its tournament debut against a heavily armored rotator.
And facing its new giant front wedge,
Brian nave's bot was like gentle waves crashing against the rocks.
[kenny] I mean, brian nave' got to be,
"how the heck do we do any damage to our opponent?
[chris] all it took was one perfectly placed shot.
Before victor soto cruised to an easy knockout victory
[kenny] my goodness. Here goes the teeth.
Captain shredderator gets other one.
[chris] he's split his shel and a piece of the battlebox
[kenny] oh, look at the gash on captain shredderator from one of those teeth.
[chris] I don't think it's spinning anymore.
Three, two, one. Knockout!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] rotator slices its w into the round of 16
For the second straight season.
Also in this group, the number 3 overall seed whiplash
Kicked off its tournament campaign ranked higher than ever before.
While icewave and captain marc devidts entered the action,
Embracing their role as underdogs.
The combustion engine powere spinner came out firing earl
[kenny] oh, nice shot.
[chris] nice hit. Nice hit by icewave.
But, man, you're gonna have to do more than just delive one hit to stop whiplash.
But without a self-righter, we might need to start calli the boy genius
The fresh prince 'cause this is a story all about
How his life got flipped, turned upside down.
[kenny] uh-oh, whiplash has got icewave, feeding it
Into the screws of the upper deck.
-[chris] oh. -[kenny] oh, no.
I think that's gonna do it.
Two, one.
That's a knockout.
[kenny] matty vasquez told u after reaching the finals last season,
Anything less than a championship is unacceptable.
His quest for his first eve giant nut will continue
When he faces cobalt in the round of 16.
[chris] as promised, next up it is a tasty matchup
Featuring the 11th seed tantrum and the 22 seed gigabyte.
Tantrum, a season ago, made it all the way to the semifinals.
Back this year, under new captains, ginger schmidt
And alex grant with its designer, aren hill still overseeing pit operations.
And this team didn't miss a beat, kenny.
2-0 in the qualifiers, this is a fast and athletic robot
That's about as well-rounde as anyone in the field.
[kenny] yeah, and you could argue it's actually a better bot
Than it was last season.
Still compact, still durable, but I think it's hitting even harder.
In the meantime, gigabyte came in at 2021 saying,
"yes, we finally dialed this thing in."
Went 2-1 in the qualifiers,
But captain john mladenik, far from satisfied,
He tells us we've yet to see gigabyte at its very bes
Where are they right now with this robot?
[kenny] well, I think this is one of those teams that
Actually has been hurt by the new geometry of the battlebox
And those dangerous short corners,
Where it's easier than ever for a bot to destroy itself against a rail.
We know gigabyte can dish out damage,
But john feels the key to success in this tournament is reliability.
This version of the bot is built with that in mind.
It did look durable in its last fight out against smeeeeeeeeeeeee.
So I think they're peaking at the right time,
But this is a tough matchup for 'em.
All right, let's find out what happens.
Faruq.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[faruq] in the red square,
This next bot's design is lethal and exquisite,
Like something cooked up by the mind of exhibit.
Yo, dawg, I heard you like spinners,
So we turned your whole body into a spinner
So you can spin while you're spinning.
He's here to pimp your grades.
It's gigabyte!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] team gigabyte bounced in the round of
16 last year by hydra.
Can they better that performance this year?
Kenny, what's going on under that cardboard
Covering there in the front
[kenny] well, he'll unveil it shortly,
But it's a new configuration, even some of his teammates objected to.
John mladenik said he neede something unique
To help him win the ground war tonight.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
In the blue square, when you throw a tantrum,
You'll scream and cry.
But when you throw down with this tantrum,
You'll bleed and die.
If you want to feel that championship glory,
You have to contend with his little fist of fury.
It's tantrum!
[chris] here is tantrum,
Busted some brackets last season by punching their wa all the way to the semifinal
They believe they are legitimate contenders to wi
The whole darn thing this time around.
So, kenny, tell us about that weapon.
[kenny] well, they had some issues with their punching disc
Last year because the aluminum rails that the weapon slides on
Couldn't handle big impacts.
Now that they've upgraded those rails to stee
The disc is really humming and punching harder than eve
[crowd cheering and applauding]
This fight's a tough one.
Now we have things that we're going to try that we've never tried before.
So we made this mechanism that has these individual
Spring-mounted forks
And then we have a shell that has a blade higher
So that when he comes up on the forks, he gets hit with the big blade.
So we got to stay out of the pocket,
Get up to speed, make sure o forks are pointed toward him
So he can't get under us and stay out in the middle.
If we can do that, we have a chance.
Tantrum is unique because ou spinner isn't mounted
At the front of our robot, so what we can do is
Blow our armor right into gigabyte's face,
Spin down their spinner, bring him to a wall,
Bring up our weapon to full speed and deliver a really powerful punch.
Their armor is strong.
They can deliver a lot of energy, but tantrum is built like a brick.
We can take a beating and we're prepared to.
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] well, there's another look at that
New fork configuration on gigabyte.
For more on that, let's go to our bot whisperer pete.
Dial us in, brother.
[pete] okay.
They've added that front pla and those wedgelets
To the drive platform in hopes of
Feeding tantrum into the spinning shell.
John is really rolling the dice,
Debuting something like this in a tournament match,
But I kind of like what he's going for here.
[chris] hey, if pete likes it, I like it
You got this, dillon.
You got it, brian.
[chris] can gigabyte turn the tables on tantrum
Or will the punching disc smash its tournament dreams to pieces?
The round of 32 action continues, next.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament,
Where the 11th seed, tantrum,
And 22 seed, gigabyte, are about to collide.
Winner moves on, loser goes home.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Tantrum ran past out of the gate, goes right into the rails
And overshoots the runway.
[kenny] nice shot from tantr there, but how about this,
That attachment on gigabyte, doing what it's supposed to do.
[chris] yeah, but the proble with gigabyte,
It's got to get some distance or else it cannot spin up to full speed,
And it hates being in that short corner next to the upper deck.
[kenny] some sloppy driving here from both of these teams to start this flight.
[chris] oh!
[kenny] okay.
There goes the attachment.
[chris] yeah.
Gigabyte, dangerously close to the side of the blocks he
And got to fight away to get back to center.
Here comes tantrum, getting underneath.
[kenny] nice self-right by gigabyte,
But tantrum has it pinned in the corner now.
You could hear that punching fist revving up.
[chris] tantrum choosing to back away,
Playing some games here apparently.
Gigabyte escapes...
Oh, nice shot by tantrum.
It's trying to get gigabyte onto the upper deck, perhaps
Uh-oh!
Oh, gigabyte in trouble, yea gets up on the upper deck.
Now, can gigabyte get down?
It's kind of cool it's up o its own dance floor, but...
Oh, my goodness!
That was absolutely unbelievable, what a light show.
[kenny] an explosion right in front of us.
[chris] now it looks like tantrum might have lost a wheel.
[kenny] yeah, they're havin issues moving around right n
Because of it.
[chris] there you go.
Now gigabyte trying to chop away.
Tantrum, huge shot there.
[kenny] this fight has turne into an absolute war, chris
Any of these big shots could knock
One or both of these bots out.
[chris] well, tantrum, I see little plumes of smoke coming out of it.
Gigabyte, I think, has lost its ability to spin up its weapon, kenny.
[kenny] what an upset this would be if gigabyte were able to pull it off.
But without them spinning, it's going to be very difficult
To pull off a win here.
[chris] you never know inside the battlebox.
Both of these robots have absorbed a ton of punishment in this fight.
There is more smoke coming out of tantrum.
Oh! Nice pop by tantrum.
Gigabyte gets away, but once again cannot spin up.
Forty to go.
[kenny] tantrum isn't moving, chris.
[chris] no, it is not.
There he goes.
Gigabyte without his primary weapon,
Tantrum looking like it may on the brink of shutting dow
A spot in the top 16 is on the line.
Who is going to take it?
[kenny] we may be heading to the judges, chris
Both of these teams desperately
Trying to make a final impression.
[chris] well, tantrum still has function in its weapon.
That will definitely serve it well on the scorecards.
And with ten seconds remaining,
The teams are no longer in danger of being counted out
But they are still in danger of going home
As only one can move forward in the tournament.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Tantrum! Tantrum! Tantrum!
[chris] kenny, maybe some nerves out of the gate for both of these teams.
[kenny] may be.
I think gigabyte in particul may have been
Too focused on putting that new attachment into play.
Eventually, tantrum ripped it off and that's when thing
Started to heat up.
[chris] and tantrum right on gigabyte,
Throwing him into the upper deck.
And then, "hey, can I help you get back into the field of play?"
"why not?"
[kenny] yeah, that was just an epic collision there by tantrum and gigabyte.
[chris] but at that point, tantrum did lose a wheel
And it did affect their driving the rest of the match.
[kenny] gigabyte hits with so much energy
And as you can see, tantrum was feeling it.
I mean, they definitely had some problems
Absorbing that energy of gigabyte.
[chris] big picture here.
Gigabyte lost its primary weapon.
Tantrum lost a wheel and was barely hanging on at the closing bell.
We'll see which way the judges chose to go.
Here's faruq with the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
We have a unanimous decision and the winner is...
Tantrum!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Whoo! Yeah!
[crowd chanting] tantrum! Tantrum! Tantrum!
[chris] alex and ginger...
Maybe aren hill should have appointed you guys captains years ago.
You haven't lost.
I, um, I agree with you guys.
That was, that was a pretty dominant fight.
So, alex, how did it unfold for you?
Uh, john's new wedge went great until it didn't.
And then after that, after that, he just spun up
And just sliced into tantrum's armor, and we got scared.
We really did. We lost a wheel.
But, man, we really pushed him into the wall and got him through.
Yeah, there was some awesome back and forth, went all the way.
-That was a great fight. -Yeah. Uh-huh.
-Loved it. -Sounds great.
Congratulations. You're on to the round of 16.
-Thank you. -Thank you. Thank you, chris.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] so with that, tantrum will now move on to the round of 16,
Where they will face the number six overall seed in rotator,
But, kenny, what kind of toll will the damag
Tantrum just took have on their championship dreams?
[kenny] listen, you have to win five fights to earn the giant nut,
And they just went to war in their first one.
This is where the pit crew comes into play.
They're going to have to ge tantrum over to the hospita
And work with those programmers from autodesk
To machine some new parts in time for their next fight
Going to be interesting to s how tantrum holds up
The rest of the way after being pushed to the brink like that.
[chris] as for team gigabyte
The most dangerous full body spinner in the sport,
Closes out its fourth seaso with a first round exit.
No doubt they'll be back and ready for more destruction again next year
[chris] all right, after the break,
It is time to wrap things u in the round of 32.
Hydra leapfrog the competiti to grab a bottom seed,
But now they're going to square off against the mother of all toads, ribbot
Coming up next on battlebots.
[kenny] as the season began local las vegas artist
David fay began creating a sculpture built from the wreckage
Of the electrifying fights inside the battlebox.
And now his vision is nearly complete.
Each week, parts were added to create a trojan horse,
Symbolizing it's the hidden competitor within
That will win the battle.
The stunning piece titled battle trot, includes
End game's massive forks from their fight with hydra
[chris] and there goes one of the front forks off the end game.
[kenny] mad catter's back plate, which was totaled by sawblaze...
[chris] parts everywhere.
[kenny] ...Multiple parts from ghost raptor, including its blade...
[chris] ghost raptor's in raptor bits.
[kenny] ...And many others w left testaments of the comba
They endured, strewn across the arena.
This sculpture will be auctioned off for charity
And forever remain a monument to this epic season of battlebots.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament,
Where there is just one matc remaining in the round of 32
It's hydra versus ribbot.
Only one can move on.
And ribbot checking in as the number two overall seed after a 3-0 regular season.
David jin's super excited, and
Who's he looking at across the box?
That would be jake ewert an hydra,
Who last season was the number one overall seed in the tournament.
And david jin said, "okay, no big deal.
We can deal with this."
Can they? I don't know how.
I mean, they were very excited, like you said,
That they got the number two seed,
But then seeing hydra as the 31, this is such a tough fight for them.
This is a very difficult draw.
And for jake ewert, he is super excited.
Now he wasn't ecstatic about
Having to win the play-in game against defender just to make the round of 32.
But he brought up a great point, he said,
"now it's like I am the number two overall seed, because it's the same draw
In the bracket from here on out.
That's how I'm thinking.
I am thinking I am still one of the best out there."
[kenny] he's still confident, he does like this matchup, but
Ribbot is a very destructive robot.
It's all about whether he ca get underneath
And whether he can stay flipping throughout the figh
[chris] because he did have trouble with that throughout the qualifiers.
Let's see what unfolds right now.
Faruq, take it away.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
In the red square, this flipper is a killer.
It ain't no friendly tv dolphin.
It's the deadly kind flipper that will put you in a coffin.
He'll flip you in the morning, he'll flip you late at night.
He'll flip you 'til you're nearly dead,
Then turn out the lights.
It's hydra!
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] jake ewert's bot took care of defender
In the play-in game to get to this spot,
And now he is feeling uber-confident in his robot
That it can make a serious run.
[kenny] I think it's pretty safe to say that's the most
Dangerous 31 seed we've ever had in battlebots.
Jake told us he's not only going to bust everyone's brackets
By winning this fight, he's going to bust up ribbot's frame
In the process.
[chris] sounds like somebody's craving frog leg for dinner tonight?
In the blue square, some amphibians make you hallucinate
If you touch them with your lips.
But when this toad licks you, you're going to have a bad trip.
You'll have freaky-deaky visions of evil monsters and melting faces.
Buy the ticket, take the ride.
It's fear and loathing in frog vegas.
It's ribbot!
[chris] here come team ribbot, and ho is this for a stack
Their ten battlebots victories have all come
By way of the knockout.
Kenny, it looks like they'r going with their horizontal weapon here this evening.
[kenny] that's right, they want to try and negate hydra's
Ground advantage with that low undercutting weapon.
Believe it or not, jake ewer has never faced
A horizontal spinner in competition with hydra.
Smart choice by ribbot here
[crowd cheering and applauding]
My plan of attack is,
Is I'm going to let them spin up and then I'm going to use my wedges
And hopefully he goes flying and does his own damage, but they're durable
We know that they flop aroun the box all the time
And they keep surviving.
So it's going to be a really good fight, I think
Hydra is a really punishing robot.
If you put your robot in a b position on top of them,
They can bring you out in one shot.
So we really got to make sur that we stay in the arena,
We stay on our wheels and we really choose
When and where to engage.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] red team, ready?
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[automated voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] only one spot remains in the round of 16.
Hydra, ribbot, if you want it, go and take it.
Let the bot battle begin!
Whoa!
[kenny] my goodness!
[chris] what a hit!
The frog head is finished.
Wow.
What an impressive first flip and another one by hydr
[kenny] ribbot must have flown 50 feet in the air on that flip,
And it landed directly on its weapon.
Somehow it is still spinning.
[chris] oh, no!
[kenny] oh!
[chris] the nose of hydra is off.
How much more flipping can it do?
Wow!
[kenny] oh, ribbot just goin to town against hydra, but
They're not completely in control, they might destroy themselves.
Hydra is still flipping, chris.
That is remarkable.
[chris] hydra trying to fli it out of the arena,
But there is that sneeze guard behind the screw.
Both weapons still very much active, kenny.
[kenny] my goodness. Oh, ribbot having an issue here.
[chris] oh, yeah, it is just traveling in circles right now.
It has to show some kind of controlled movement
Or it's going to be counted out.
[kenny] this is not good here.
-Can you show movement? -Yeah.
I want to see control movement.
It's rotating.
[chris] hydra is moving jus fine,
It is backed away from ribbot.
Ribbot pretty much just crab-walking at this point, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, they are on thin ice here.
[chris] can david jin find a way to reengage and keep
Ribbot's season alive?
[referee] I gotta see controlled movement.
That's not control?
Ten, nine...
[kenny] the countdown has started.
And number two overall seed is about to go down
At the hands of hydra.
[referee] that's a knockout.
[chris] we have a knockout and hydra is moving on!
That's how you take control.
What?
I was racked, guys.
I was racked. Come on.
[chris] kenny, you saw davi jin there, clearly frustrated,
And he thought this fight should have been allowed to continue.
[kenny] well, there was a lot on the line here, chris.
But even if you can technically move your robot
If you can't find your opponent, you can't fight.
I think it was the right call.
[chris] hydra really had it working to start this fight
[kenny] yeah. He definitely got some serious flips in there,
Actually went right at the weapon of ribbot, got underneath,
Started launching him immediately.
This was a nasty one.
Both teams kind of resorted to prison rules here.
Look at this. Just crazy.
[chris] it looked like ther may have been an opening fo
Ribbot when hydra got the front of its flipper peeled off,
But the frog could not capitalize.
[kenny] yeah, but the flipper kept working.
That's the thing. The tip came off,
But they kept getting underneath ribbot, kept flipping them.
What a fight.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
[chris] hey, jake.
Yes. How's it going?
I know you're not a typical 31 seed,
But you did make a little history here tonight,
Upending the number two overall seed.
Are you happy about that?
That's the only thing we can hope for was to come out
And actually, you know, wedge them and have them flop around and
Do his little froggy hop all over the place,
Which it worked perfectly until the flipper took some side hits.
So, I mean, it worked.
I guess I could be a wedge, too.
I don't have to always use the flipper, right?
But I threw it in there anyway a few times.
Jake, you're getting a lot of catcalls here from the audience.
What's... What's going on here?
I'm the villain, baby. You got to hate me.
Do you love being hated?
It's starting to, it's starting to grow on me a little bit,
Yeah. I mean, I even got my plaque from tombstone this year,
So he passed down the torch to me to be the bad guy, so
I got to live up to his name, right?
Well, who knows?
A few more wins, and maybe you can put a giant nut
Back next to that thing, too.
It'd be, it'd be good to come back and, you know,
Go next to its spare where sal won, you know, how many years ago.
So this is the 20th anniversary of that.
So it'd be really big if we could win another one.
Well, you guys are on a roll.
-Congratulations, jake. -Thank you, guys.
Thanks, guys. Yeah.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Kenny, I think when the bracket originally came out,
Everybody looked, "so hydra's got to be in the play-in game
Just to get into the round of 32?" and then
David jen started doing the "oh, gosh,
It means if he wins, we have to take him on in the first round."
He wasn't scared or anything, but that is a tough draw when you're the two seed.
Yeah, easily the scariest 31 seed
We've ever had here at battlebots.
It's a testament to the leve of all these competitors her
And, you know, it almost worked out for hydra in a lot of ways
Of struggling early on in the season.
[chris] and as hydra moves on to the round of 16
Up next, for them, it will be the always dangerous black dragon.
So what else did we see tonight?
Cobalt, obviously, the real deal, took it to yeti.
The legend, tombstone, bounc from the tournament
At the hands of las vegas's own jackpot.
What does the future now hold for the once-mighty kin
We'll find out.
But I think the headliner he is that aren hill's pissed.
Tantrum and of course, blip,
Have two of the final 16 robots.
Yeah, it's just amazing what that team has done.
You have the flipper, you have the vertical spinner.
Wow.
[chris] so now just 16 teams remain.
And next time we see you, we will pair the field down to eight.
Do not miss the second round action
As end game, sawblaze,
Witch doctor, hydra
And whiplash,
As well as young guns, jackpot, blip
And riptide,
All duke it out for a chanc to continue their quest
For the most coveted championship trophy in the milky way,
The giant nut.
For faruq, our "bot whisperer" pete, my man, kenny florian,
I am chris rose.
We'll see you next time here on battlebots.