[robotic voice] robots, activate!
[crowd cheering]
Welcome to battlebots!
Tonight, the deadliest robot combat tournament on the entire planet
Continues as we get closer to crowning a world champion.
Hi, everybody, I'm chris rose,
Joined as always by ufc legend.
Say hello to kenny florian.
[crowd cheering]
Thanks, chris. I can't wait to get into the action tonight.
How we feelin', vegas? You guys ready to roll?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] we've reached the top 16
In the battlebots world championship tournamen
That means, tonight, it is the best of the best.
And over the years,
This round of competition has given us
Some of the best flashbulb moments in the history of the sport
Oh, my goodness!
[chris] and tonight promises more of the same,
As 16 of the world's most impressive combat robots
Look to risk life
And lithium-ion to continue their March
Towards the most epic troph on the planet,
The giant nut!
[crowd cheering]
All right, taking a look at the bracket
Kenny talk to us about the phenomenal
Round of 16 field.
[kenny] well, we've got thre former runners up
In the mix all looking to finish
The job this time around
And claim the trophy,
Including last year's finalist whiplash,
Led by matty vasquez, who was foaming at the mout
To get back to the mountaintop.
Three of last season's top seeds are back for another bite
In copperhead, uppercut,
And the bad boy of battlebots, hydra.
How about two robots that have been crowned
Most destructive in seasons past,
It's cobalt and rotator.
We've got a former desperado winner
Looking to make a deep run in black dragon.
Tantrum busted a lot of brackets last year
By making the semifinals,
Can new captains alex grant and ginger schmidt
Match or better that mark this time around?
And don't forget,
The number four overall seed sawblaze,
Captain jamison go is quite simply
A man possessed.
You'll also see a cluster of dangerous teams
Making their first appearanc in the top 16 in p1,
Jackpot, and the rookies riptide and blip.
[chris] and to close out the night,
A gift from the robot gods,
A clash that had fans lined up overnight,
A building so explosive
We'll be getting noise complaints
From the international space station,
Minotaur versus end game!
Sitting pretty atop the bracket,
Jack barker and nick mabey'
Personal weapon of mass destruction
Looks as dangerous as ever,
Making mincemeat of every te
It's faced on the road to a hopeful repeat.
But you better believe,
There's a storm a-coming
In the form of the brazilian bazooka, minotaur.
Fueled by raw emotion.
Driver, daniel freitas
Has it dialed up to 11 comin into tonight,
And for him, it's win or die trying.
Does he have what it takes to tank the champs?
I dare you to tell him he doesn't.
Yeah!
[chris] we will, of course, unfold each matchup as we go
But we begin now with an absolute barn burne
As two of the field's most chaotic weapons spin u
To throw down.
It's riptide versus uppercut
This should be fun.
It is going to be a crazy night,
You ready to get it started?
-Oh, I'm so ready. -You guys ready?
[crowd cheering]
Faruq, take it away.
[crowd cheering]
Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?
It's robot fighting time!
[crowd cheering]
In the red square,
Going up against this team
Captained by ethan kurtz,
Chances are you're gonna scream,
"ow! That freakin' hurts!"
The fight will just be getting started
And the next thing you know,
He'll be standing over your bot's dead body screaming,
"let's go!
Let's go!"
[screams]
Seriously, man, this dude is insane.
Anyway, give it up
For riptide!
[chris] oh, yeah, faruq bringing the heat
Right out of the gate and nobody deserves it
More than one of the brightest faces
Of the robot combat youth movement, ethan kurtz
He upset shatter in the round of 32.
Kenny, is ethan's electric personality part of his success?
[kenny] oh, for sure, in the fight game,
Mindset is a huge factor,
And ethan's inhibitions are to the wind.
He told us he showed up to battlebots,
Expecting his bot to not even turn on,
Yet, here he is, set to figh for a spot in the top eight
This kid is playing with house money here in vegas,
And it's working like a char
[faruq] in the blue square,
This team comes from mit.
And they'll leave you mia.
They specialize in tkos,
So their opponents better pray.
Btw, those were acronyms,
And they're fitting in this case
Because omg,
You'll be doa
If you get in his face. Give it up
For uppercut!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] making their third straight round of 16 appearance
Since their debut,
It's alex hattori and team uppercut
Hoping that the third time really is the charm
As they take another crack at making the quarterfinals
-Whoa! -[kenny] little flexing.
-And a little uppercut actio -[chris] okay!
-Nice. -[chris] didn't know they had it in them.
[kenny] good technique, guys
But yeah, this is definitel a big fight for this team,
And alex knows that it'll al likely come down
To weapon-on-weapon carnage
And when you're the guy with the biggest stick in the bunch,
Expect to see him flying into the fray fist first.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] and for more on the rookie bot,
Let's bring in our bot whisperer pete.
So, I've been talking to the riptide team back there in the pits,
And one of the things that I've seen them doing
And learning from each figh is they keep removing
Variables out of the system
They've added foam around their wires
To keep those from shorting out
Or arcing out or being pinched.
But what's really setting riptide apart
From the other robots is most robots go
From about a half inch wide blade
To maybe like a three inch wide bat,
It's what they're hitting with.
Riptide is 13.5 inches wide
Of solid tooth engagement,
And since, of course, they're traveling at 180 miles an hour
Rotational speed,
When they hit, they get a much bigger patte
To lift and whack other robots into the air.
Uppercut! Uppercut! [crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] robots, activate!
[crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] red team, ready?
[chris] he meant business.
[robotic voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] riptide, uppercut,
Kicking off the round of 16
Winner punches their ticket to the quarterfinals.
Brace yourselves for turbulence, people.
[crowd cheering]
Let the bot battle begin and here comes uppercu whoa!
It's a great shot from the rookie and another one.
Whoa, and another,
The rookie is all over uppercut and sends it into the screws.
Are we gonna have a monumental upset?
Wow!
Can alex hattori work his way out of there?
Is he gonna get spit out? He is.
The rookie's right on top of him,
[kenny] riptide staying right on him.
-Massive hits. -[chris] unbelievable.
Kickin' up, some serious dir
There's something nasty in the box.
I ain't cleaning that up. Oh, look at it.
Oh!
[kenny] this is unbelievable
[chris] riptide keeping him off balance.
What is going on?
[kenny] yes, riptide is chewing
Uppercut's foam tires to pieces.
And kicking the debris all over the battlebox.
[chris] for a second, I thought uppercut was trying to
Smuggle some contraband into the arena.
Good to know.
[kenny] alex hattori in serious trouble now.
[chris] uppercut just spinning in circles,
And that's not gonna be enough to keep it in the fight.
[kenny] oh, they are done, both of their wheels are don
This is another upset for riptide.
Unbelievable!
I cannot wait to see ethan kurtz's reaction.
The number five seed is finished.
[crowd cheering]
-Yeah! Yeah! -[chris] they've got this.
[kenny] wow!
[chris] well, the rookie wasn't scared, kenny.
-[kenny] yeah, just clipped him right there on the flank -[chris] wow!
[kenny] and from there it wa all riptide.
They never let him off the hook.
Pure aggression. This was a blitzkrieg.
Uppercut was never in this fight
And that's a hard thing to believe.
[chris] kenny, uppercut makes its money
By overwhelming opponents with its weapon strength.
What went wrong tonight?
[kenny] listen, very few tea are able to take advantage
Of the gyroscopic precision
Uppercut produces when its weapon is at full speed,
But riptide did exactly that
They kept it off balance,
Stayed planted on the battlebox floor
And used uppercut's own energy against itself.
Very impressive win by the rookie.
[chris] so, kenny, uh, you think
Ethan's excited to be movin on to the top eight?
[kenny laughs]
[chris] hey, ethan.
Get over here, kiddo.
Are your hands shaking right now?
I actually cannot feel my hands.
I cannot move 'em anymore.
I literally cannot. I don't know what's happening.
Please take me to the er.
Like, actually, I'm, I'm, like, not kidding.
I need to go. Okay, okay.
Uh, what did happen?
Okay, so we were so worried they're gonna get up to speed.
But I think we clipped something
That wasn't their weapon on that first exchange,
Which allowed us just to control the fight from there,
And we didn't give 'em a chance after that.
That was the plan all along.
We are the most powerful drum spinner in the world.
We just beat... We just beat
The most powerful spinner,
Vertical spinner in battlebots.
Shows us we're legit.
We're freakin' legit, man!
We're gonna win!
Congratulations, ethan
And your entire riptide team.
-Great job. -Thank you.
Let's [bleep] go!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, the walking espresso shot ethan kurtz,
Pulls off an explosive upset
And team riptide will now move on to the quarter finals
And face the winner of sawblaze versus p1.
And a big old tip of the ca
To the team from mit, uppercut
Three years, three top 16 appearances,
That can only mean we have a lot more
Uppercuts to dodge in the future.
When we return,
Will tantrum continue to giv
Its opponents deadly fits
Or will rotator's blades,
Put a different spin on the story?
That's coming up on battlebots.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament,
The round of 16.
Up next, it's the 11th seed tantrum
Facing the sixth seed rotato
And, you know the tantrum story by now.
It was originally designed and captained by aren hill,
Made it to the semifinals last season,
But aren decided to spawn
A new death machine this yea
And left tantrum
In the capable hands of alex grant
And ginger schmidt.
They have not missed a beat this season.
Yeah, absolutely.
You can't say enough about ginger and alex,
They've been incredible leaders,
But in terms of the robot,
Tantrum took huge damage in their last fight against gigabyte.
The team has been working around the clock
To get tantrum ready for this fight,
But that amount of pit work would be daunting
For even the most seasoned of captains.
This will be the biggest tes of their young career.
Yeah, they're gonna have to be at their best
'cause they're gonna get the sixth seed rotator and victor soto,
Who has just been perfect this year.
[kenny] that's right and every year we find ourselves
Asking the same thing,
Is this finally victor's yea
After the impressive performance he and rotator h
Against captain shrederator in the last round,
The question only becomes more pressing.
And, you know, victor and rotator
Desperately want to answer
With a resounding yes.
All the pieces are there.
The mad scientist just need to get it done here
Against a very sturdy tantru
All right, let's find out what happens, faruq.
[crowd cheering]
In the red square,
From cambridge, massachusetts.
The only pacifier for this bot is murder.
It's tantrum!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] team tantrum,
Making their way out of the tunnel
For their second straight appearance
In the round of 16.
How are they feeling about this matchup, kenny?
[kenny] well, if you look at all of their fights this season,
Three of the bots they've taken out
Have been horizontal spinner
With another in rotator here tonight,
Alex and ginger told us
This could work in their favor as tantrum
Has been successfully stress tested
Against very similar angles of attack.
[crowd cheering]
[ginger] tantrum! Tantrum! Tantrum! Tantrum!
[faruq] in the blue square,
From doral, florida,
Killing from the same direction
On either side of the equator,
It's rotator!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] team rotator,
Made its battlebots debut
All the way back in 2016.
We know that horizontal spinner
Is dangerous
But tantrum is as durable as they come.
So, do we expect the fight
To go to the judges, kenny?
[kenny] no doubt. Both of these robots
Are hard to kill
Victor is well aware that rotator
Doesn't historically come ou
On the winning end when the fight goes to the full three minutes,
So look for him to ramp up
The aggression here
And do everything he can
To score a knockout.
[crowd cheering]
Going into this fight is gonna be a driving match
Victor soto is an awesome driver.
He's gonna take the wedges
Right into the front of tantrum
And try to sweep around and try to get our wheels.
But we have dillon carey
And he's gonna, you know, outdrive him,
Give him a big old punch and get us the match.
I think it would be disappointing
If we don't make it out of the round of 16.
We came here this year with new captains
To prove that tantrum is a strong robot,
Last year wasn't a fluke.
So, we wanna make it as far if not further this year.
I'm not really sure how much damage
We'll be able to inflict,
But we'll see if we can
At least, uh, control them.
If we can do damage and do some
Internal damage or get a ko, that'll be even better
Uh, I just expect it to be a three minute slugfest.
We're thrilled to be in the top 16.
Uh, the farthest we've ever gone is the top eight
Where we got knocked out by bite force a few years ag
And our goal is to exceed th
And go for the giant nut.
-Good? -Good.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Tantrum fast out of the gate
But rotator,
Taken into the rails immediately by tantrum.
Nice work by dillon carey.
[kenny] yeah, there's that control they were talking about.
They're doing a great job of winning this ground game here, chris.
[chris] popped up rotator nicely.
[kenny] oh, yes, the rotato
Was so durable.
First two fights of the regular season
Went the distance.
[man] go, rotator!
[kenny] and one of victor soto's
Most successful technique
Is feeding those wedges of spinning
Just like that.
[chris] well called kenny florian.
One big hit!
Nice job by tantrum, using that long arm...
[kenny] oh!
[chris] not gently!
Great hit, he's got rotator right there
The screws in the upper deck trying to force him upstairs
He does.
[kenny] he's got chewed up, can he get out of there inverted?
-[chris] he can. -He's vulnerable.
Tantrum gonna look to get in reach again.
[chris] oh, man!
Whoa! Big shot!
Now, inverted that.
Right off the square.
-Watch out! -They gotta be careful there
Yeah, I think that victor soto doesn't mind driving..
And it looks like tantrum is running in circles,
Trying to free itself.
[kenny] I think it maybe high centered on a piece of debris, chris
And this is a golden opportunity for rotator
To get back in this fight.
[chris] and rotator took itself out at the rails
[kenny] oh, my god! Tantrum got out of the way
At just the right time.
But they are still strugglin to move.
They're not moving. They lost one of the brakes.
All right, you gotta show m you got some better control other than circle.
[chris] this is gonna be a real problem for tantrum
As rotator starts chewing and takes care of the rest.
And now starts working on the wedge.
[kenny] what a comeback this would be for rotator!
Victor soto,
Dishing out the punishment now.
[chris] and there goes the other fist.
So tantrum no longer has its self-righting system
[kenny] rotator's still going, but good news for tantrum,
Back on the attack now.
It's out-pushing rotator
Back toward the upper deck.
Tantrum, welcome back to the party, pal.
What a crazy fight!
And rotator showing some serious damage here.
[chris] under a minute to go
Tantrum has rotator pinned
But releases.
Rotator trying to flip itsel but it just now lost fight inverted.
[kenny] whoa!
[chris] look at the damage it's doing to the top of the wedge of tantrum.
Get it.
[kenny] tantrum just going right back in there.
Oh! Oh! Aggression.
[chris] and now tantrum has rotator
Pinned in the corner of the upper deck.
Thirty seconds.
Can victor soto make one last push?
[kenny] rotator's in big trouble,
And they've been inverted
For a long time, chris
And that's gonna play a factor
In the judges' decision.
[chris] whoa!
They don't need the judges.
A remarkable shot by dillon carey
And tantrum
As they move on
To the round of eight.
Wow!
That was ridiculous!
Three, two, one!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] wow!
Kenny, I gotta be honest, I don't know wher to start with this fight.
[kenny] is your heart gonna able to take it?
I mean, this was crazy.
Both of these guys
Had their opportunities at knockouts.
This fight was one of the be I've ever seen.
[chris] tantrum able to control rotator out of the gate
Rack up damage, and aggression points
And heck, even bully victor soto's bot
Onto the upper deck.
[kenny] yeah, tantrum was definitely ahead on the scorecards,
But this is where the fight took a turn.
This collision right here.
Tantrum got hung up on a piece of debris
In the battle box,
And rotator started going to work.
[chris] yeah, actually, when rotator became inverte
They started to do significantly more damage.
[kenny] yeah, that's right, they were attacking from above
And tantrum was just kind of, circling
For a long time,
And it looked like a tantru
Was about to get knocked out
[chris] but then, chapter three
Dillon carey, the driver of tantrum,
Found a way to free the bot
And get his team back in this match.
[kenny] unbelievable!
The fans were going nuts.
[chris] all signs pointed to this fight going to the judges
Where we know of course, anything can happen.
But in the waning seconds,
Tantrum got underneath rotator,
As you can see he took it coast to coast,
Launched it out of the aren
For the knockout.
That was an instant classic
Whoo!
Alex and ginger, get over here.
-We're here. -Oh, my gosh!
Ginger,
What the heck did you just see?
Wow, that might be one of the craziest fights
We've had all season.
-All season? -Yeah.
-Try about ever in battlebots. -Ever, ever.
Wow! Uh, take us through this thing
Because at the end,
You didn't have your fists,
You didn't have your self-righting system,
You were pinned in the corner
And then, all of a sudden before you know it,
You're throwing rotator out of the arena, alex.
That was insane, yeah,
Like in the middle of that, we were
At the-- at the ropes.
I'm shaking right now. This is crazy.
That was an awesome fight.
-Thank you. -Yes.
We were on the ropes in the corner,
He was beating on us,
But we got movement again and we just took it to him.
-Yeah. -We just... Uh, we brought it.
-Yeah, victor-- -and that was awesome.
Victor's got one of the best horizontals in the game,
So, we were scared coming into this one
And halfway through the fight
When we weren't moving there in the corner,
We've got a really smart drive team.
We were using our self-righter arm
To get unstuck, thinking smart hanging in there
And I think tantrum took hits
-And it kept going. -It kept going.
-You know, tantrum never stops. -It kept going.
Team tantrum, congratulations on the win.
Thank you, chris. Thank you kenny.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, for victor soto and rotator,
It's a tale as old as time,
As the perennial,
Maybe this year team once again
Finds themselves knocked ou
In the round of 16.
So, maybe next year.
Meanwhile, tantrum quite literally
Punched its ticket
Back to the quarterfinals,
Where it will face the winner of whiplash
Versus cobalt.
Do we have a potential
All aren hill semifinals brewing.
Now, wouldn't that be something?
When we come back,
Will jackpot cash out blip's life insurance policy
Or will the rookie bot prove it has more than just beginner's luck?
That's up next on battlebots.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournamen
Round of 16.
We just witnessed aren hill's,
Former bot tantrum
Punch its way into the quarterfinals.
Now, we're set to see his rookie bot,
The seven seed blip
Take on the ten seed jackpo
For a chance to join them.
As far as aren hill goes,
He's had four fights this year,
Four wins, he keeps getting more intel on his robot,
And he feels confident.
[kenny] yeah, that's right and he absolutely should be confident.
This is a guy who doesn't see a ceiling
On blip's potential
And has his sights set on winning the whole thing,
Even if that means demolishing his own bot
Tantrum on the way there.
In the meantime, jeff waters,
Robert stehn, uh, good buddies
From right here in las vegas.
They're still absorbing the shock
Of defeating former champ, tombstone
In the round of 32.
You gotta imagine they feel like
They can take on the world here tonight, kenny.
[kenny] no doubt. And they m not have to take on the worl
But they do have to take on
One of the most impressive rookies
Since jackpot itself here.
Jeff and robert, know that driving
Is going to be key against the shifty flipper,
So watch them to try and score some damage point
In hopes of disabling blip's weapons.
[chris] the bots are ready to activate.
We're gonna get you right to the action.
Let's go inside the battlebox.
[crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] red team, ready?
[chris] there's jeff waters jr.
Geared up for his first roun of 16 appearance,
And it looks like they've got a mini bot
On a budget with them there
[kenny] they do, that's ace
Which jeff told us is in the fray, here tonigh
After he saw donald hutson
Use a similarly designed mini-bot
Very effectively
When lock jaw faced blip in the qualifiers,
The plan is to use ace to high center blip
And tee it up for a knockout blow.
[robotic voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] aren hill and blip
Looking to keep their impressive unbeaten streak alive.
How do they take down the heavy hitting bot
On a budget, kenny florian?
[kenny] well, aren is just so locked in for this fight
He's using the same configuration
That won him that fight you just mentioned
Against another vertical spinner in lock jaw
So, look for blip to use those piano key wedgelet
To get underneath jackpot
And launch it out of the tournament.
Yup, I got this.
[kenny] team jackpot from right here in las vegas,
Can the hometown heroes
Defeat team blip
And move on to the quarterfinals?
Fight! Fight! Fight! [crowd chanting]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Blip circles around.
Tries to find the right angl on jackpot
Trying to get under him and flip.
-[kenny] jackpot got stuck on the floor. -Sure did.
Blip taking full advantage of it.
[chris] the bots go nose-to-nose.
Blip backs away, though
Didn't wanna fire the flipper into jackpot's weapon.
Jackpot having trouble now.
And just took a shot.
Flipped him. Oh, and pulverized him. Look at the bottom...
Again, a nice flip by blip.
[kenny] we've seen aren hil take his time
And be patient and look at this.
[chris] uh-oh, jackpot cannot move.
I'm not giving that nudge.
[chris] the ace, the little guy
Is gonna try to help out his big fella.
I don't think, I...
Push! Push!
Everybody on three.
One, two...
[kenny] oh, no!
-Six, five... -[chris] can I get a hand over here, please?
[kenny] yeah, I don't think he's big enough, chris that's...
Not gonna work out.
[chris] this is gonna do it
[crowd cheering]
[kenny] how did he do that?
[chris] aren hill's gonna take blip
To the round of eight.
Well, this wasn't nearly the flip fest
We saw from blip in its opening round fight, kenny
But aren hill certainly got the job done.
[kenny] that's right, this was more of a controlled,
Defensive minded win here
And, you know, most flipper are just so eager
To launch their opponents
That they are constantly triggering their weapon.
Blip is different.
Aren has so much confidence
In his bot's ability to take a punch
That he's willing to stay patient
And hunt for just the right angle
Before engaging with that flipper.
[chris] all it took tonight was a couple of tiny pops
From that flywheel flipper
To send the boys from las vegas packing.
At least it'll be a short trip home.
The rookie blip still undefeated.
Aren hill,
So what did you see out here?
Was it as simple as just flipping
Jackpot over and you knew you had this thing?
We knew we're really durable,
We knew they're not quite as durable.
Let's ram into 'em, get underneath 'em, just flip them over.
Didn't have to go crazy.
Take the win and go for it.
You told us before this fight
That you day dreamed about the possibility of facing
Your other robot tantrum in the semifinals.
You are each now one step away from that.
Is it almost becoming reality in your mind?
Oh, 100%.
They're... They're doing pretty well living up to expectations.
Does that mean that there's gonna start being some trash talking
Back in the pits--
Start?
That's been going.
Hey, aren, congratulations. You guys did an amazing job.
We'll see you in the round of eight.
Thank you.
[chris] so, the hometown heroes jackpot
With another impressive season
In just their second year at it.
They didn't win the jackpot
But they did win a whole lot of clout
Going into next year.
As for aren hill, his stock is flying higher than ever.
Blip is moving on,
And will face the winner of hydra versus black dragon.
And that match is coming up next.
It's jake ewert,
Clashing with gabriel maia,
Flipper versus flame for a spot in the quarterfinals
The tournament action continues
After a break.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament.
Three teams have already punched their tickets into the quarterfinals.
And we've got two behemoths
Up next looking to do the same.
It's the 18th seed, black dragon,
Throwing down with the 31st seed hydra.
I'm gonna repeat that again,
The 31st overall seed hydra.
You're probably thinking to yourself,
Wasn't jake ewert's bot, the number one seed
Gonna into the round of 32 a year ago?
[chris] yes, losing record though,
During the regular season,
Had to win the play-in game
Just to get to the round of 32,
Where they knocked off the number two overall seed, ribbot.
Now, jake ewert said,
"there's probably a 90% chance,
That I win this fight,
But only a 60% chance,
That my bot will actually be fully functional."
Jake, I was told there would be no math on this portion of the program,
So I'm really confused.
Does he like his robot or not like his robot?
It's a love-hate relationship.
When it works, it is firing robots up in the air.
But what it's not, it's losing very quickly.
So, I think for him, he wants to know,
-Which hydra is gonna show up. -[chris] right.
[kenny] is this thing gonna work when I need it to?
Uh, and that can definitely make
A bot builder and a driver, very uneasy.
[chris] taking on a semifinalist from a season ago,
Black dragon of course, out of brazil and gabriel maia.
They seem pretty confident,
Although this will be a firs for them.
[kenny] that's right, but there's a lot of uncertainty in this one
As black dragon has never faced a flipper before here at battlebots.
Knowing that, gabriel has studied hydra's other fights
And feels confident that team is ready,
For a new challenge in this high stakes tilt.
We gotta get this thing going because,
Ah, I could hear the brazilian guys backstage
-They're ready to come out here. Faruq. -[everyone] one, two three.
Black dragon!
[crowd cheering]
[faruq] in the red square,
This bot is made from 100%
Real wisconsin bad boy.
It's part cheese curd on a motorcycle,
Part bratwurst punching soy.
Your chance of living our skim to none
When this bot eats you whole.
It's the scary dairyland monster
Gee golly don't you know? It's hydra!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] and right away, you can hear the boos raining down
For the polarizing, jake ewert and hydra.
But jake just feeds off of all of it,
Doesn't he, kenny?
[kenny] I mean, totally.
Jake is the perfect villain
Because, not only does he get the crowd going,
He also has one of the most entertaining
And dominant bots in the field.
Jake might have come into this tournament as a 31 seed.
But, after what hydra did to defender and ribbot,
This is a team with a ton of momentum,
That nobody wants to be matched up against.
[faruq] in the blue square,
This fighter is brazilian.
His team is reptilian.
How many bots has he killed? Try a billion.
Bring the pain is his credo,
Make you bleed like a mosquito,
Then he'll be rollin' on a beach in rio,
Rockin' a speedo.
It's black dragon!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] won a very close judge's decision
Over mad catter in the round of 32.
They're hyped, they're energetic,
They got a duck.
They're ready to roll.
How do the fiery brazilians get it done against hydra?
[kenny] well, gabriel's approach is simple
Utilize black dragon's spee and maneuverability
To avoid hydra's ground scraping launcher,
And dish out damage to the sides and rear,
And if black dragon does get flipped,
Gabriel is confident, those custom wheels can help absor
A good amount of damage
When they hit the battlebox floor.
[audience cheering]
We're ready for black dragon,
And they're another bot that is gonna be a wedge battle.
So, if I can get underneath their front wedges,
That just gives me something to flip on,
And I should be able to hit that all day long,
And not have a big problem
And not even worry about the drum.
They're gonna try it out fork
Probably the king of forks at this point,
So, it's not probably gonna work so well for them.
We are not playing mind games uh, with them.
I was in their pit the other day.
I know what they're gonna run.
I've seen in a lot of matches,
Their drum kind of just stop sometimes.
So, I'm hoping that a few flips and it'll be like...
Free game, I won't need to worry about that weapon anymore.
I'm really anxious for the fight,
Hydra is a fast bot, reliable bot.
I know we can handle this,
But it's a different kind of bot for black dragon.
Uh, we have never faced a launcher before,
But, I think we made it.
I think we were going the a right way.
I'm happy with the bot. It's working.
It's finally having weapons, fire system and a good drive.
So, you know, I'm really anxious for the top 16 fights.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[audience cheering]
[chris] it's the surging hydra,
And the red hot black dragon
Winner heads to the quarterfinals,
And moves one step closer to hoisting the giant nut.
Who is it gonna be?
The fight...
When the battlebots world championship tournamen continues.
[chris] welcome back to the world championship tournament here on battlebot
Where the 31st seed hydra,
Is ready to face the 18th seed black dragon.
Winner moves onto the quarterfinals.
Prepare for launch.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] fight, fight, fight...
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Black dragon
The fire breathing dragon.
Uh-oh, careful.
Whoa!
Big flips that hydra
Hopes to get tonight.
Black dragon landed directl on its weapon there, chris.
[chris] and hydra, oh, just whipped a bad flip
And now, uh-oh.
Nice flip by hydra.
[kenny] black dragon trying to attack head on right there
Very dangerous game, flirting with the flipper like that.
[chris] black dragon lookin for an angle
Gets around to the side of hydra,
Looking for a bite with that egg beater weapon,
But can't finish the job there, kenny.
[kenny] yup, hard to get purchase on that low profile frame of hydra.
Whoa, what a shot!
Black dragon drove directly onto hydra's
Flipper and got launched nearly 15 feet in the air.
Another.
How many more shots can black dragon take?
[kenny] well, black dragon didn't turn at least for a second,
It's rolling right towards u and now, it's right side up
[chris] how about the durability of black dragon?
So far so good for the brazilian team.
And kenny, hydra has not left the center square at al
Oh, look at that jump. Black dragon ends up--
This is gonna be a tough one
Can they move? They're stuck on the rail next to the screws
Jake gonna go for the mini bot. Oh!
Black dragon is back at it.
Oh!
Black dragon came back to life somehow, chris,
Inverted but heading back into the danger flip
Hydra says, "you want more? I'll give you more!"
[chris] a minute 20 to go.
Hydra being very methodical in its movement.
Yeah, they're being very patient here,
Just kind of waiting for black dragon.
But could that hurt them in the aggression category?
[kenny] may be, but I'm not sure,
It matters at this point.
Black dragon's weapon slowing down.
Definitely starting to see stars
As a result of all of these flips.
[chris] a spot in the quarterfinals
Hangs in the balance.
Under a minute to go, black dragon driving inverte
And now it's not.
Let's see if that helps black dragon.
It's got 40 seconds.
To create a comeback story.
Look at this, hydra, mini flip after mini flip.
Chris, the brazilian team has had many,
Many opportunities
To come up with a different strategy
To take a different approach
And hydra, has just blown th all around the battlebox.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] unreal!
[chris] hydra just flipping his opponent at will
It is literally on fire.
They are gonna make it the distance, but they ar
Close. Oh, my goodness
Jake ewert and hydra,
Putting on a show tonight.
[indistinct chatter]
Seventeen flips, to impress the judges tonight,
And they are derek young,
Lisa winter, and jason bardi
Scoring on an 11 point syste
Five points can be awarded for damage.
Three for aggression.
And, of course, three for control.
Black dragon! Black dragon!
[chris] you saw the brazilia
Trying to sell the crowd there,
But these fans know
What they just witnessed, kenny.
What a performance
From jake ewart and team hydra.
Patient, they kept their weapon pointed
At black dragon and waited for him
And gave him a ride into the heavens.
We expected black dragon to try,
And find a way to attack the flanks
Or the backside of hydra,
But instead they just kept feeding
The robot into the flipper.
[kenny] yeah, you know, we talked about experience
And how much that matters.
Hydra has faced a lot of different vertical spinne
Over the course of his caree
Black dragon never faced a flipper before,
And to be honest, it showed
Now, jake ewert was willing to sacrifice some points
In the aggression category,
By staying planted in the center of the box.
And black dragon played right into his hands.
Seventeen flips for hydra on the night.
The results from the judges are in.
-Woo-hoo. -Yeah.
[audience cheering]
The winner by unanimous decision is...
[woman] hydra...
[audience] hydra!
Hydra!
-[chris] oh, jake ewart. -Hi, guys, how's it going?
You're the little engine that could.
That 31st seed that's come out of nowhere to shock the world,
And end up in the round of eight.
Yeah, I'm that dark horse, right,
By about this much, uh-huh?
Uh-huh.
You told us you were, you thought...
That if there was a 90% chance
That you could win this fight as long as your robot,
Was working the right way.
Was it working the right way?
-No, it wasn't. -Oh, stop jake!
No my drive was broken.
And with the first 10 seconds,
So, I was limping along the whole time.
It's a good thing I pre-game for them
And I knew they were super aggressive,
So, they just keep coming after me.
We actually call it hydra syndrome.
Because once you get flipped,
For some reason, they just keep driving up my flipper
All the time, so...
You're playin' it so cool.
Are you excited to be in the round of eight?
-It's okay. -Oh.
All right, man, we'll see you there.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
[audience cheering]
[chris] so, the lovable gan from brazil,
Black dragon, is bounced out of contention tonight.
Congratulations to them on making the round of 16
In each of the three years that they've competed.
As for the anti-hero jake ewert and hydra,
The battle of flippers is officially on.
As they draw aren hill's bli in the quarterfinals.
Talk about a marquee matchup
Coming up... Which doctor is looking to a
Another snake skin to its wall,
But will copperheads sink it's venomous fangs
Into those sinister plans?
Find out next on battlebots
[theme music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[chris] we continue on here at battlebots,
The round of 16, and there's one particular pit,
Backstage that is going nuts tonight.
And that, of course, is the one overseen by aren hill
And his duo of bots in blip and tantrum.
Earlier, we saw both teams
Scrap their way into the quarterfinals.
In fact, there they are.
That's where the party is su to be later tonight.
Just, shh!
Don't tell kenny, he's not invited.
[kenny laughs]
But right now, it's a kinetic cataclysm,
As two truly devastating weapons,
Are set to square off.
It's the 24 seed witch doctor
Versus the eighth seed copperhead.
This is gonna be a double da of disaster.
Mike and andrea gellatly of team witch doctor,
They're gonna hang out with robert and kimberly cowan
Of team copperhead.
As far as copperhead goes, boy,
Their strategy in this...
Let's just dive in face firs go weapon to weapon.
Let's have some fun tonight
[kenny] it's actually that simple for them.
They just need to point their weapon
And attack.
And wherever they hit, it's totally cool with them
They're very confident. And who can blame them?
They're undefeated in their first year as captains,
And here they stand in the top 16.
Their strategy has been working.
Lord knows the weapon works and in my opinion,
There's a ton of value in going with what got you here.
Witch doctor, michael gellatly,
Outstanding driver,
He knows, he has to be on his a-game tonight, why?
[kenny] well, he has to outdrive the other team.
They were actually both happ and concerned
With how hard their weapon is hitting,
Because with those impacts,
They're actually doing a lo of damage to themselves,
So combat can definitely be paradoxical.
Winner of this fight moves on,
To the final eight and picks up the tab the next time
These two actually do double date.
Faruq, it's all yours.
In the red square,
From miami, florida,
Sending you to the pharmacy,
For a 30-day refill
Of haunted squirrel paws,
It's witch doctor.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] one of the most popular bots around
And what a crazy ride it wa in the round of 32.
They thought they were gonn face the rookie bot glitch.
At the last minute, glitch could not get ready,
So, they had to change tacks
Get ready for mammoth and they knocked it out.
So, they can deal with anything, kenny.
[kenny] definitely, mike and andrea, are seasoned vets
And aren't going to back down from anyone.
But mike did tell us,
He has no desire to go weapon to weapon
Against the hulking drum of copperhead.
So, look for him to try to outmaneuver,
His slithery opponent,
While lining up a knockout blow.
[faruq] in the blue square from erie, colorado.
Once bitten, twice you die.
It's copperhead.
[crowd cheering]
[kenny] the number eighth seed,
A perfect record this seaso
That included winning a judge's decision over lucky
In the round of 32.
[chris] yeah, and they did an insane amount
Of damage in that fight.
No surprise to anyone,
Who's seen this bot in action
And look at cuddles. Is that a witch doctor hat?
Oh, my gosh! Cuddles.
[kenny] yeah, way to have some of that team spirit.
[chris] he's so cute.
[kenny] chris, you gotta give him a hug
-At some point. -[chris] absolutely.
Come on over here with that hat on.
That's sick.
[crowd cheering]
So, copperhead is like the opposite of mammoth,
You know, mammoth is like the biggest robot here,
And copperhead is definitely one of the smallest robots here.
And the thing's built like an absolute brick.
We know that their frame can take big hits,
But I don't think anybody's actually been able
To deliver like a ko hit to copperhead.
So, we're gonna try our best,
To see what we can do to their frame
And cause a lot of damage.
I know this is the olympics of robotic combat,
But I look at every robot in the top 16,
And any one of them could win the championship
And nobody would be surprised.
To be among that field, is a huge honor for us,
But it's even more motivating
To prove that witch doctor could stand out,
Within a group like this,
Which is really the best we've ever seen.
Yeah, we're undefeated. I wouldn't say
That we're confident going against witch doctor.
It is witch doctor.
But we're as confident as we can be with our bot.
We're both gonna try and be aggressive.
And whoever ends up kind of getting that first hit,
We're just gonna continue it through to the end of the fight.
Mike might end up getting that first hit,
And he might dominate and control the fight.
I kind of hope it goes the other way.
I'm gonna try and dominate, control the fight.
We'll just see, how those first couple exchanges happen.
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
[robotic voice] red team, ready?
[robotic voice] blue team ready?
Yeah.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] the 2019 runner up,
Ready for battle.
The rookie captain cowan
Is trying to keep their tournament run alive.
[audience chanting]
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
-[chris] whoa! -[kenny] whoa!
[chris] so much for mike gellatly's idea
Not to face the weapon. [kenny] yeah.
[chris] went right into that weapon
Of copperhead, my goodness. Risky move there.
-[chris] whoa! -[kenny] whoa!
[chris] nice shot and turn around.
Witch doctor does.
-And again with a love tap. And again! -[kenny] whoa!
[chris] witch doctor, all over copperhead right now.
Oh, mike gellatly laying it on.
Oh no, for the first time, this season,
Copperhead is not moving.
-It's in full speed. -Yes.
[chris] is the eighth seed down for the count?
[kenny] the weapon is spinning, but there's
No life left in that robot, chris.
[chris] the countdown is on
-And after an undefeated season. -Eight, seven...
-[chris] all captains, rober and kimberly cowan could do. -[referee] ...Six, five...
-[chris] ...Is watch as thei dream of winning... -[john] ...Four, three...
-[chris] ...The giant nut slithers away. -...Two, one.
Knockout!
[kenny] witch doctor is moving on to the next round.
Wow!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] how about this righ out of the gate, kenny? Oh!
[kenny] yeah, just ridiculous.
Boom.
And what's remarkable,
Is that copperhead did exact
What they wanted to do here, chris.
They got the first big hit, but it didn't matter.
Witch doctor, very lucky to land on its feet.
It recovered and eventually was able to deliver
A counter shot.
This could have been copperhead's fight.
[chris] well, that was the beginning of the end,
For the eighth seed,
As it spent the rest of the match inverted
And gasping for air.
Witch doctor, now moving on, to the quarterfinals.
[chris] andrea and mike,
Were you lying to us, mike?
You told us you didn't wanna go weapon to weapon?
I said I didn't want to.
-[kenny laughs] -uh,
But I did.
No, I mean, uh,
Copperhead has done such a great job this year.
They've been super collected and,
And reserved, and uh,
We weren't sure, if they were gonna charge us or what.
So,
It's all a blur. I don't think
I took a breath the entire time.
Uh, and our discs, we, uh...
I don't know, if the teeth broke at the end.
They were a little
Out of balance, but...
Did you see that backflip, though?
Stuck the landing.
[kenny] what was the strategy here?
Because obviously you did go weapon to weapon,
Uh, and then you just didn't stop attacking from there.
Well, we always start trying to control the match.
In a match like this, whoever gets the first hit,
Really dominates the match.
And in this case, copperhead came out swinging.
Really looked, like, they were gonna control the match.
That had us really, really nervous.
But mike was able to turn it around somehow,
And get some really big hits in.
Congratulations, guys.
We'll see you in the final eight.
Thanks, chris.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, the eighth seed copperhead's
Undefeated season comes to a close.
Big time congrats to rob and kimberly cowan
On a very impressive maiden voyage as co-captains.
Expect much more from them in the future.
As for witch doctor,
The gellatlys are clearly on the warpath
Here again in 2021.
They'll be watching the matchup between
End game and minotaur very closely,
As they'll take on the winne of that clash of the titans
Coming up, will p1 drive over sawblaze
On its way to victory lane
Or will sawblaze make this,
Nothing more than a funeral procession.
Find out when we come back on battlebots.
All right, we got more of the round of 16,
With the number four overall seed sawblaze,
Taking on the 20th seed p1.
Jamison go.
He wasn't excited he made the top eight a year ago.
He wants number one.
He is a few victories away,
From getting that and his robot is...
Near perfecto.
Yes. And he's a perfectionist.
You know, and sometimes that's a good thing.
Sometimes, it's a bad thing
He's had one mistake all season
That led to a loss against end game.
But for a builder like jamison,
That does nothing but douse fuel on his burning desire
To finally get his hands on the giant nut.
Jamison knows this is a very real shot
And he's not taking any chances
Against a bot like p1,
That's already surprised a number of good teams.
I'm not gonna say that the captain of p1,
Brandon zalinsky is just happy to be here,
But he's really happy and proud to be here.
He said, "listen, we've got no spinner,
We are not a flipper.
We're a really speedy lifter
And the only one of our kind left here,
In the round of 16."
Remember, he upset the 13th seed, hypershock,
In the last round, kenny?
The question is how does he now
Beat sawblaze?
[kenny] yeah, he acknowledge he's not gonna have
A whole lot of offensive pow out there.
He says, I'm gonna be honest
I need to win a decision.
The way I win a decision is by out driving
Jamison go. No easy task.
Can he outdrive him?
Let's find out.
Faruq.
[crowd cheering]
In the red square from hudson, new hampshire,
At least one better than p2.
It's p1.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] brandon zalinsky
Having a breakout season with p1.
What's he got to do to shoc
The world again tonight, kenny?
[kenny] I mean, like we said
He wants to try to outdrive jamison go,
Which is no easy task.
The biggest advantage brando has, though,
Has to be speed.
P1 is easily one of the quickest bots around
And brandon will have to utilize that
To perfection in order to notch a win.
In the blue square,
From cambridge, massachusetts,
It came, it saw,
It blazed.
It's sawblaze.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] team sawblaze,
Knocked off hijinx in the round of 32,
Thanks to a judge's decision
Jamison go clearly proud of his bot
And why wouldn't he be?
This thing is a stone cold killer.
[kenny] you know, I think they ask themselves
The most important question when you're involved in combat,
And that is how do we not die?
Their focus was on durability this season.
They're taking hits much better,
But more importantly, they're also delivering
So offensively, defensively
This is a tremendous robot.
I know that p1 is a well-armored,
Very durable robot
I think, can easily go to judges
Based on how durable it is.
Uh, a good plan for us, hopefully,
Is to get the advantage,
If we can win by control,
Just like the hijinx match, we wanna dial back the weapon,
Make sure we don't hurt ourselves too badly.
And if we're confident that we can take the win,
We're gonna take it like that.
As far as fight strategy goes,
It's gonna be kind of all about driving
And getting around to his sides and rear
And making him use that hammer arm,
To self-right his own robot
Because if we can make
Either the motor fail or his clutch fail,
And the arm gets stuck,
Then we can win the fight.
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] and for more on this matchup,
We'll bring in our bot whisperer.
Pete, what do you have on jamison's bot?
[pete] so it's forks have be sharpened.
Jamison is coming in with his highest energy,
His highest speed,
And he says he wants to be the first one to do damage.
But what's important is,
To see what he has to get through.
So this represents,
What is the first layer of armor
On the top of p1.
And then, they add a layer of tigress
And then another layer
Of quarter inch ar.
So, this thickness
Must be cut through to get to anything
Inside p1 from the top.
[kenny] thanks, pete.
P1 looks great defensively.
The question is, will they have enough offense,
In order to pull off the upset?
It is time to find out as a berth,
In the round of eight is on the line.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Uh-oh, sawblaze has got p1 already.
Oh, drop of the hammer saw.
And takes them to the pulverizer.
Oh, look at that nice damage done out of the gate
By the fourth seed sawblaze
[kenny] well, they're alread winning that ground battle.
[chris] oh!
[kenny] and that hammer saw hitting so hard already.
[chris] yeah, pete talked about all that top armor
P1 is going to need it tonight.
[audience cheering]
That wheel tastes so good.
[chris] and that flamethrowe is quite the weapon as well
They'll try to burn the internals of p1.
Sawblaze trying to carry p1 over to the upper deck.
But p1 slides off those big front forks.
[kenny] p1 may already be dealing with some mobility issues here, chris
[chris] and sawblaze taking advantage
And landing another power shots.
-Ah! Brutal. -[chris] jamison go relentless so far.
Brandon zalinsky's gotta ge away from sawblaze
Just catch his breath and readjust. There you go.
Although, it looks like maybe that's a belt on the floor, kenny.
That could be a major issue
[kenny] oh, yeah, and you'll see p1. That's gotta come from p1.
They're having issues right now.
But no bot in this season, in my opinion, has used to battlebox bette
Than jamison go and team sawblaze.
[chris] tryin' to take p1, I think into the upper deck screws.
Circles back, gets him in there.
Can't quite finish the job. But either way
Sawblaze winning the control category to this point in the fight.
Whoa! That was nice little, almost reverse hit.
That wasn't expected by sawblaze.
[kenny] brandon zalinsky is doing a good job
Of driving defensively to get off those forks of jamison go.
[chris] that's about the only bright spot for p1 so far.
Well, brandon prides himsel on being able to get lower than his opponents,
But it has been the exact opposite here tonight.
Jamison go just dominating the ground battl
And in turn dominating the fight.
And now, right in front of u
-"what's up, dudes?" -hey, how you doin'?
[kenny] how you doin'? How are you doin'?
[chris] sawblaze readjusting
Oh, he's got p1 cornered
Right into the rails.
[kenny] team sawblaze laying off with their hammer saw now.
They do not wanna risk any unnecessary damage here
[chris] p1 struggling to mov
Doing whatever it can to avoid a countdown.
Sawblaze hovering.
Gettin' underneath.
There is that hammer saw.
"in case you forgot what that feels like." says jamison go.
[kenny] yeah, I see those chains there on the floor from p1.
And they're in all sorts of trouble right now.
[chris] oh, and to add insul to injury, the kill saws
Take a bite out of p1 from below.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] oh!
What a beautiful shot by jamison go.
And sawblaze so dominant.
Every facet of the game.
Damage, control,
Aggression, the fourth seed
It's going to the judges,
But you got to imagine there's only one way they could see this.
[audience cheering]
[chris] well, brandon zalinsky is stunned,
As jamison go just went full throttle.
Give p1 credit for making it the full three minutes.
Jenny and jamison go set out to control p1 in this match
And he did exactly that.
[kenny] my goodness, you said it in the fight.
It's brandon that's used to getting underneath his opponents
And dictating the action with p1,
But he got hit with a dose of his own medicine here
In the round of 16.
Sawblaze dominated the ground battle here.
Add in the power of that hammer saw
And this was a beatdown.
[chris] the veteran landed a series of power shots at the start of the match.
That rattled p1's frame and compromised its mobility
And instead of pushing the robot to try and score a knockout,
Jamison was simply happy to let the time expire
And keep sawblaze in tip-top shape
For the next round of the tournament.
[audience cheering]
The results from the judges are in.
[audience cheering]
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Sawblaze!
[audience cheering]
[chris] jamison,
It looked like that fight went
Exactly the way you wanted it, did it?
I guess I'd say yeah, um,
We kept low, we
Got them on our forks, you know, we brought the hammer down.
And, uh, you know,
We got to see if the robot had any scars.
I think I may have lost a tooth there,
But I think that's probably pretty good.
Jamison, I don't know if there's a bot builder here
That is more singularly focused than you.
I mean, you have one goal, it is to win the giant nut.
Can you start to daydream
Even a little bit about it right now, being this close to it?
Nope, cannot.
I made a little mistake there, I let our tire get hit by the kill saw,
So we need to fix that. Need to practice more.
Really, jamison?
One at a time, one fight at a time.
One fight at a time, just like jake said.
And away.
Well, your next fight will be in the round of eight.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, a laser focus jamison go
Burns his way into the quarterfinals.
He will face rookie riptide
In what is sure to be a kinetic fight.
As for brandon zalinsky and p1,
Hey, talk about a breakout season
For missing the tournament last year
To finishing in the top 16.
That is one heck of an accomplishment.
All right, comin' up,
It's the fight the fans have been waiting for.
Can minotaur turn the battlebox
Into its own personal china shop.
Or will the number one overall seed
End game's March to a repeat title rage on?
We'll find out when we come back on battlebots.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament
Where once again, the round of 16 has delivere
Some unforgettable moments.
Six bots have already staked their claim in the quarterfinals,
Including the number 11 seed tantrum.
It will be facing the winne of the 3 versus 14 matchup,
Whiplash versus cobalt.
Let's take a look at how that fight went down earlier tonight.
[faruq] it's whiplash!
[kenny] in a clash of driving styles,
Last year's runner up matty vasquez
Squared off against the minister of mayhem, matt maxim.
[chris] let the bot battle begin.
Cobalt went on the offensive early
And was able to land a series of shots
That spelt trouble for whiplash.
Whoa!
[kenny] whiplash got his fork stuck in the wall
That allowed cobalt to hit him from behind.
[chris] matt maxim told us he was waiting
For matt vasquez to make mistake.
There it was.
But after just the first minute of action,
Both bots ran into trouble.
[kenny] oh, look at this.
Cobalt may be high centered whiplash looks stuck.
Time, time, everybody put their transmitters down.
Okay, transmitters are down.
We're stuck.
[chris] we're only a minute in here, jenny.
Are they gonna try and unstick these two or wha
[kenny] well, that's what I would expect to see so early in the match, chris
But cobalt's weapon is still spinning.
[chris] per the rule book, it was determined that
Because cobalt was unable to power down its weapon,
The bots could not be safely unstuck.
[kenny] we better take it.
[chris] and the call went to the judges
Who returned a split decisio
The winner...
[crowd cheering]
Cobalt!
Yeah!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, cobalt cracks the top eight
And will face tantrum in the quarter finals.
For team whiplash, an abrupt ending from last year's runner up.
But matty vasquez remains
One of the most talented and respected builders in the sport.
No doubt, he'll be as motivated as ever
Coming into next season.
And with that, only one spot in the quarterfinals remains
And it is time for the fight the world has been waiting for.
Minotaur versus end game.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] these two teams last met back
In the 2019 desperado tournament,
Where minotaur made quick wo of the new zealanders.
But you talk to both teams, they know
That end game in particular is a very different robot.
And minotaur driver daniel freitas,
Just to get ready for this fight
Watched the 2019 tape at least 50 times
Over the last few days to get ready for this thing.
I have no idea what's gonna happen.
Yeah, that's right. Team minotaur
Has actually been playing a lot of mind games...
-Mmm-hmm. -...With team end game.
They've been putting a lot of forks on taking 'em off,
Putting other ones on.
They have no intentions of using the forks.
This is just another fantastic fight.
Speaking of the mind games,
End game co-captain jack barker and nick mabey actually told us
They looked over in minotaur's pits
And said, "those guys looke a little worried right now.
And if minotaur has watched any of end game's fights so far this season,
There's good reason to be a little scared.
[kenny] listen, end game is hitting just
As hard as any of the most powerful weapons out there,
But the brazilians are not intimidated.
Most teams who wanna avoid going weapon and weapon
With the champs, backing dow
Just isn't daniel freitas' style.
These guys have confidence in minotaur's ability
To take a punch and to driv inverted if necessary.
So, look for all out aggression from both teams.
This one may come down to which bot
Can land the most combinatio
And keep its opponent off balance.
You're ready to see some weapon on weapon crime?
-What are we waiting for? -Nothin'!
Let's round out the group of eight
Right now with faruq.
[faruq] in the red square,
Hey, bots, this team set out last season
Sparing your lives.
Now this bull is back like jordan,
Wearing a 45.
In this fight, they're an underdog,
Not getting much of a chance
And they took that personally.
Now, prepare for your last dance.
Give it up for minotaur!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] the bot from brazil won a judges decision
Over bloodsport in the round of 32.
There is their driver, daniel freitas.
You tell me if he's ready, kenny.
[kenny] I mean, look at that focus.
It looks like he's about to get
Into the battlebox and figh end game.
[chris] I don't suggest that by the way.
[crowd cheering]
In the blue square,
He's the scariest bot you'll ever see on your screen.
This thing is a slasher just like Halloween.
This isn't a kid's game.
This isn't red rover.
It's the end of the line. Let's shout
Game over!
It's end game!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] how about this list of teams to be knocked out by end game this season,
Hydra, witchdoctor, sawblaze, and skorpios.
This is a team that is really on top of their game
This is the best we've seen them.
They are dressed to impress look at the shades.
[kenny] uh, the only thing wrong with their bot is
They needed a post-it note at the end.
[chris and kenny laughing]
[chris] did they borrow an ' from smeeee?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] for more on the champs,
We're gonna bring in our bot whisperer, pete.
Gentlemen, the two outer forks that you're looking at on end game
Have been specifically score
So that if they get any hit on the side,
They will break away and will not bend and hinder end game.
But the inner forks are much heavier duty
And very specifically designed just for minotaur.
The whole idea was that the drum would roll up on this fork,
Not doing much damage,
Allowing it to bring minotau right into their weapon.
[chris] well, there you have it, folks,
The reigning champs playing some chess here before the opening bell.
[robotic voice] robots, activate.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] it's minotaur.
It's end game.
The fight with the battlebot world championship tournament continues.
[crowd cheering]
[kenny] in the violent race for the giant nut,
Surviving is only half the battle.
[chris] this is gonna be a real problem for tantrum,
As rotator starts chewing it up and takes care of the fence
[chris] after the buzzer blares and the smoke clears,
Our builders get right to wo
Repairing their bots for the next fight.
But even these teams of talented engineers need help.
That's why battlebots has brought together
The world class services of autodesk fusion 360
And haas in our hospital to save the day,
Our self-righting sprocket actually snapped in half and broke.
So, we put in an order at the hospital.
And we should be able to go into our next fight punching again.
[chris] using schematics tailored to each individual team,
Autodesk fusion 360 and haa
Are able to quickly and effectively work togethe
To create replacement parts without ever leaving the building.
At the highest level of the sport,
If you wanna be the best, you have to work with the best.
[chris] welcome back to the battlebots world championship tournament
With the current holder of the giant nut.
End game is about to collid with the raging bull, minotaur.
Winner claims the last spot in the quarter finals.
The loser's season is over.
Let's go!
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] boy, oh, boy, have the fans been waiting for this one?
Two of the most destructive robots on planet earth.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
The teams meet the veteran bots and go weap
To weapon right out of the gate.
Here we go, kenny!
-[kenny] oh, my goodness! -[chris] they've got end gam on its head.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] bouncing around!
[kenny] minotaur testing the durability of that weapo of end game.
Right now, both weapons temporarily shut down.
[chris] end game and minotau pinned against the screws
But minotaur finds some spac
Daniel freitas reloads.
[chris] nice little shot the and now going at the back of the champ.
What's going on with the wedge with end game?
[kenny] they are stuck insid of the kill saw slot, chris
And minotaur is hanging back
[chris] there's minotaur right on top of him.
[kenny] whoa! Good shot by end game
[chris] the reigning champ with plenty
Of gas left in the tank.
[kenny] oh!
[chris] and now jack moving in for the kill.
[kenny] end game got the better of that one as well.
[chris] but how about daniel freitas?
What a maneuver to escape from that short corner.
And now, lookin' to reengage.
[kenny] whoa! Huge shot. End game on its head.
And it flipped back over.
And it looks like minotaur may have bent back
One of those front forks on end game in that exchange.
The bots meet on the logo, nose to nose down, staring each other down.
End game trying to find a way to feed its weapon into minotaur
The brazilian's drum spinne now firing up, who's gonna flinch first?
Oh, boy! Here we go. More fun!
[kenny] this is such a nasty brawl right here, chris.
More face to face action.
No love lost between these guys.
[chris] minotaur won the mat in 2019.
End game certainly remembers that and wants to avenge it.
[kenny] yeah, this is like ali-frazier, two heavyweight
Just seeing who the more powerful puncher is.
Been back and forth quite so far,
But here comes minotaur backing end game down.
Wow! That was ridiculous.
Minotaur is holding end gam under the pulverizer, they have to let him go.
But I'm not so sure jack barker can get out of here.
What a performance from daniel freitas!
Now, digging into the underbelly of the champ.
[kenny] they are taking it to end game right now.
We have not seen this at al all season.
[chris] the brazilians pinni end game up against the side of the box.
The pulverizer gets a little shot at the champ
Who has to make up some ground in the last 30 second
[kenny] this has been a brilliant execution
Of a game plan by team minotaur.
Oh, and another huge shot.
Minotaur almost had him under the rails and now into the pulverizer
Look at the damage on the back of end game right there, chris.
[chris] fifteen seconds to g
End game fighting for its tournament life here
Against the brazilian bazooka.
-[kenny] wow! -[chris] under ten to go.
[kenny] this classic match is going the distance.
It's the one seeded defending champ finished?
Courtesy of minotaur.
Wow!
[all screaming]
[chris] and minotaur celebrating
As though they have the victory.
Thank you, guys.
[chris] freitas talking tras to the champs,
Even though the judges have yet to unveil their decision
Daniel freitas says, "I don't need no decision."
[speaking indistinctly]
[chris] kenny, so rarely do things live up to expectations,
This fight did.
[kenny] no question about it.
This was brutal, it was exciting.
It was back and forth.
This could very well have been a finals match.
[chris] you saw minotaur deliver some perfect shots.
And just when you thought the champ might be done, well, look at that.
[kenny] incredible power sho from both teams.
But check out this driving from daniel freitas,
Escaping from the short corn and riding minotaur in one move.
Ridiculous!
[chris] you know, this figh was neck and neck, kenny
And then minotaur got to tho front forks on end game
And that seemed to be the difference.
[kenny] that's right. Once the brazilians bent back those forks,
It limited end game's abilit to feed minotaur into its weapon
And minotaur took advantage
[chris] and it may have bee the last 30 seconds
That truly defined this figh as minotaur began to have
Its way with the champs getting underneath and simply grinding away.
[kenny] and perfect timing there wit the 100-pound pulverizer
And then one last indelible image for the judges to look at..
[chris] oh!
[kenny] ...Before taking it to the scorecards.
The results from the judges are in.
And the winner, by unanimous decision is...
...Minotaur.
[chris] junior?
Yep.
What was that three minutes like for you and your team?
It was amazing. I think, the best three minutes, like, from the last year,
Probably, or two years.
It feels great, you know, such a good fight,
And fight against end game, it's a pleasure for us.
It feels great, you know, I almost have no words to describe
The feeling that we have right now.
Daniel,
You just beat end game, man.
You're onto the round of eight.
How pumped up are you, dude?
Go ahead. Next. One more.
One at each time.
Guys, congratulations. We'll see you in the round of eight.
-Thank you. Thank you. -Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.
Jack and nick, I know you're disappointed, but...
If you're to give up your championship, nick,
Is that the way to give it up?
I mean, if we have to lose, that's the way we have to lose, like...
That was such a fight.
Guys, I know this loss just happened.
But can you take a big step back, jack,
And... And kind of summarize what the last two seasons
And this wild ride has been like?
Yeah, I think we've improved a lot
And we've had some crazy highs last season.
And the start of this season's been so good as well.
So, we have to ride that and just keep improving.
End game this year was a lot better than last year, still.
But, you know, minotaur's a scary machine,
So we just gotta give 'em credit for that
And move on and make more improvements.
Guys, you're a great champion.
Congratulations.
-Thanks. -Fantastic run.
Thank you so much. [crowd cheering]
-Well done! -Good job, man.
[chris] you know, winning a giant nut is such a monumental task.
Team end game entered the hall of champions last season,
They looked primed to do it again this year.
They just fell a little shor
They will be back and will b a serious threat to make another run at the top.
You better believe that.
As for minotaur, what else can you say?
They upset the reigning cham in an instant classic.
They'll be moving on to face witch doctor now in the quarterfinals.
Well, next time we see you, it'll be on championship nig
Where we will start with eig and finish with one.
The chaos and destruction has all led to this.
Do not miss the crowning of a brand new battlebots champion.
For faruq, our bot whisperer, pete, and kenny florian.
I am chris rose.
We'll see you next time here on battlebots.