[robotic voice] robots activate!
[people cheering]
welcome to battlebots.
When the robots inevitably take over someday,
it'll kinda be our fault.
Sorry about that.
I'm chris rose. And I'm joined by ufc superstar
and robot combat analyst, kenny florian.
Gotta be honest with you, chris, I'm ready for the robot takeover.
Tombstone for president.
[chris] and speaking of tombstone,
last time we kicked off the 2020 world championship tournament.
And despite its uncharacteristic low seed,
tombstone was among eight bots
that punched their ticket to the second round.
Proving, yet again,
that once the tournament starts,
it is a brand-new season.
[kenny] that's right. It's the time of the season
where experience can be worth more than seeding.
You never know what can happen inside the battlebox.
[chris] tonight, the 16 remaining teams
in groups two and three will put it all on the line,
in the hope of moving one step closer
to hoisting the most coveted trophy on the planet,
-the giant nut. -[people cheering]
let's see who's gonna be waging war
in the battlebox tonight.
[chris] take a look at the bracket.
We're gonna flip it around for you at home
to make it easier to follow.
Let's talk about bloodsport, our number two seed, kenny.
3 and 0 in the qualifiers,
and only their second season here at battlebots.
[kenny] but will the bright lights of this sport's biggest stage
be too much to handle for these knockout artists?
They've drawn a nightmare match-up
in 31 seed, gruff.
One of the toughest bots on the planet to knock out.
That's gonna be explosive.
[chris] we will also see the undefeated rookie,
11th seed jackpot.
The bot on a budget has taken the battlebots world by storm.
But standing in their way tonight
is the durable, diabolical and always dangerous
victor soto and 22 seed rotator.
[kenny] if jackpot captain, jeff waters jr.
And his motley crew,
can notch a win over the veteran rotator,
they'll be set up to make a run
at a championship in their very first year.
[chris] and of course, we've got perhaps
the most dangerous 23 seed in history.
Last year's runner-up, witch doctor.
-[people cheering] -after being hexed during the qualifying campaign,
andrea and mike gellatly upgraded their weapon to hit harder than ever.
Have they rediscovered their voodoo
just in time to make a deep tournament run?
[kenny] not if zach lytle of skorpios has anything to say about it.
Fresh off of a career-defining victory over tombstone,
the 10 seed skorpios believe the giant nut is within their reach this year.
Two of the best-driven bots in this sport
will go head-to-head in this match-up.
Do not miss it.
But, to kick things off, we have a clash of designs
as the 14th seed, lock jaw,
and legendary builder donald hutson,
take on 19th seed, shatter,
led by adam wrigley
in his first-ever battlebots tournament appearance.
After what he believes should've been an undefeated season,
tarnished only by a controversial judge's decision against malice,
adam is looking to stake his claim here tonight.
[kenny] that's right. But donald hutson always comes prepared, chris.
As the 14th seed, lock jaw is in a perfect position
to apply tons of knowledge with raw practical skill
and make a serious run at the giant nut.
It's gonna be a big night for eight of our bots,
and a crushing defeat for eight more.
The time for talking is done.
Actually, there's a little more talking.
It's done by faruq.
[people cheering]
ladies and gentlemen,
it's robot fighting time!
[cheering]
[faruq] in the blue square,
from san diego, california,
donald, donald kills, y'all!
It's lock jaw!
[chris] here is donald hutson, ever the innovator.
And if you look closely on top of lock jaw,
you seem some extra armor there.
What's the wily veteran up to, kenny?
[kenny] well, donald hasn't faced an overhead striking bot
in a very long time.
So, he's pulling out all the stops.
That added layer of polyurethane
is meant to protect lock jaw's internals
and weapon belt from shatter's powerful hammer.
In the red square, from brooklyn.
The reason you're splattered, it's shatter!
[chris] adam wrigley bringing out yet another look for shatter.
This bot changes wardrobe like it's starring on broadway, kenny.
[kenny] and it's also a surprisingly good singer, chris.
But, yeah. After removing that armor in his last fight,
he wanted to show the judges that it was purely aesthetic
and shouldn't be counted against them
when it shears off.
With his message delivered,
adam is back to his high-stepping style.
They've also added those new forks
to protect against lock jaw's spit.
I feel pretty confident,
we have at least some solutions in place
that will kind of slow down his weapon strikes.
We've doubled up our titanium armor
up to a quarter-inch thick.
Even though we don't really think he can go through that,
most of our heavy panels are pretty thick.
And then, lastly, we put a shock-absorbing, half-inch
polycarbonate plastic on urethane.
There's plenty of places on the robot
where they could strike, still.
So, it's not perfect, but...
It's 90% better.
So, what we're running is our vertical setup on the front,
with the long fangs that we have
sticking out in the center.
We're gonna try and battle him control-style.
And we're gonna have to rely on our side-to-side movement,
to try and get...
A little bit better driving than donald hutson,
which'll be a tall task.
I think if we can beat donald hutson,
then that solidifies us as a contender.
[robotic voice] robots activate!
[chris] here we go!
14 vs. 19, old guard vs. New.
Who will continue their quest for the giant nut?
[robotic voice] blue team, ready?
[robotic voice] red team, ready?
[audience chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Lock jaw winds its way to the opposite corner.
Has that weapon up to speed.
-[bots crashing] -[chris] it's a nice little jab.
Here's shatter.
Oh! Big swing and a miss with that hammer.
Now lock jaw on the attack, and shatter wins again.
[kenny] yeah, a nice countershot there by lock jaw.
Lock jaw kind of getting stuck into the floor--
-[loud crash] -[kenny and chris] oh!
[kenny] nice shot by shatter!
[chris] adam wrigley drops the hammer
and sends a piece of lock jaw's armor flying!
[kenny] this is a battle for position, chris.
Shatter wants to line up the kill-shot.
-[kenny] whoa! -[chris] whoa! Direct hit by shatter.
And here's lock jaw, finally gets around to the flank.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] gets caught in the kill saws.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] look at that hammer!
[kenny] oh! What a shot!
[chris] oh, another one!
Shatter absolutely smothering lock jaw!
[kenny] lock jaw's weapons still attack though, chris.
You see it working there.
[chris] donald hutson on the retreat.
Lock jaw is now inverted!
-[kenny] uh-oh! -[chris] oh, my gosh!
[kenny] now that motor's burning up.
[chris] lock jaw's showing the effects of that barrage by shatter.
Big question, can donald hutson find a way to extend this fight now?
[kenny] oh, no! Shatter ready to deliver the death blow, chris.
[chris] oh! There's some life out of donald hutson's weapon.
Can he get it going?
Oh! Shatter says, "not today, sir!"
-[kenny] wow! -[chris] the 19th seed letting the veteran no distance
or time to shine.
[referee] ten, nine, eight...
[kenny] the ref! He's seen enough!
Countdown has started!
Donald hutson's dreams of this year's championship
are gonna die on the battlebox floor!
[all cheering]
yeah!
[chris] kenny, this one boiled down to a driving battle
with shatter trying to line up an angle
to let their hammer fly.
And lock jaw looking to attack the side to avoid that powerful weapon.
[kenny] exactly. Adam wrigley went toe-to-toe
with one of the best drivers ever to do it, donald hutson.
And shatter was able to land an early shot
that let lock jaw know they were in for a dogfight.
Check out this sequence right here.
Lock jaw finally gets the angle it wants
but gets hung up on the kill saws.
Shatter! Turns on a dime and goes to work with the hammer.
Just an incredible countermove from adam wrigley.
[chris] that series of shots was what ended up doing lock jaw in.
The bot started smoking, it eventually stopped.
And leaving nothing to chance,
shatter dropped the hammer and drove a stake through the heart
of the 20-plus year veteran.
What a performance by adam wrigley.
Adam wrigley, you are beaming from ear-to-ear, after beating a legend.
Tell us about it.
I can't hold the chip steady.
[all laugh]
that was incredible.
That was exactly what we wanted to happen.
And it happened.
Tell us what happened during this fight, adam.
So, we came out with our new config.
We've got the fangs on the front.
We didn't know how it was gonna work.
So the strategy was just to come out
and see how those were working.
They were getting under him pretty good.
He wasn't getting a lot of hits.
And the magnets were holding us down to the ground.
So, he wasn't able to push us. He wasn't able to pop us up.
So, everything was working exactly how we intended.
Hey, adam, I know you were disappointed a season ago
when you didn't make it to the playoffs.
You did this year.
And now you advance to the round of 16
after beating one of the greatest fighters in battlebots history.
How's that taste?
[chuckles softly] it's amazing.
I think losing last year was the best thing that could have happened
because it made us work extra hard on the bot.
And we got it working a 110% right now, so...
This is incredible.
Adam wrigley, congratulations to you and team shatter.
You are on your way to the round of 16.
Whoo!
[chris] well, if there's any doubt about donald hutson's legendary status,
I would say the emotion we just saw out of adam wrigley
speaks volumes as he upsets one of the all-time greats.
So, we say thanks to donald for another great season,
but it's shatter emphatically punching its ticket
into the round of 16.
But coming up...
The rookie bot-on-a-budget,
jackpot, looks to continue their miracle run
against the battle-tested rotator.
Both bots are all-in.
That's next on battlebots!
We are back on battlebots. And up next,
arguably, the best story of the season.
Jackpot checks in as the number 11 seed.
That is the highest seed for any rookie bot.
And you know the song by now.
Vegas's jeff waters jr.
Built this bot with only 4 grand!
The team has managed to knock out every opponent standing in their way.
And now they're here on the big-time stage.
[kenny] it's unbelievable.
You know, a lot of times in the fight game they say
you wanna be as simple as possible.
If you overcomplicate things, you could screw it up.
And this is a testament to that.
You don't need all this technology.
You don't need tens of thousands of dollars to be effective.
Anyone can do this as long as you're creative,
you're smart, you know how to adapt, and you know how to build.
We make the move from a rookie, to a seasoned veteran.
The number 22 seed, rotator. They are led by victor soto.
Really challenging schedule that resulted in a 1 and 2 record.
Now, a lower seed than most would have predicted.
And tonight he faces an undefeated bot
that conjures nightmares of the one that ko'd him last year, deathroll.
[kenny] yeah, definitely similar weapons between jackpot and deathroll.
But victor is one of the most skilled tactical minds in the sport.
His losses make him stronger.
And for a builder of his caliber,
expect to see his a-game here tonight.
Let's see what happens!
Faruq, it's all you!
In the blue square,
from las vegas, you're about to get straight flushed.
It's jackpot!
[audience cheering]
[chris] and what is this?
A very different look for jackpot
as they approach the box for their first-ever tournament match.
Are they doing an impression of rotator
with that fortified tuchus, kenny?
[kenny chuckles] I think so.
It looks like they've sacrificed their self-righter
for this plow-first configuration
to attack rotator's bar.
And I have to say, I'm a little surprised
by jeff waters here.
This is a huge change in strategy.
For a bot's that's succeeded by keeping it simple,
this is definitely a gamble in such an important fight.
In the red square,
from miami, florida, the robot rick ross,
everyday it's tussling.
Here's rotator!
[audience cheering]
[chris] and there's the mad scientist, victor soto,
with rotator sitting calm, cool and collected
in the 22 seed.
He said he's going for all-out offense in this one.
That should be a ton of fun.
[kenny] yeah, after a season riddled with losses
that went to the judges,
victor wants to take matters into his own hands.
He feels confident that rotator can withstand
any weapon-on-weapon hits.
So, we'll be seeing a very aggressive rotator here
as victor tries to put the qualifiers behind him.
So, we're going into the jackpot fight with our big blade.
It's 50 pounds.
It spins at a speed limit of about 250 miles per hour.
We're gonna try to be very offensive.
And just go right at them.
I'm gonna try, if I can, to avoid a weapon-to-weapon hit.
Even though I think I'll come out on top, if I do that.
I'm feeling good. I'm feeling confident.
I'm trying not to get a...
Well, I don't wanna be cocky about it,
but I think we have a good chance
of getting to the round of 16.
[chris] kenny, I don't know if jeff of jackpot is nervous, or whatever.
He will not share his strategy [chuckles] with us.
[kenny] I was gonna say, we must not look very trustworthy,
'cause we tried.
We tried to get the secrets out of him, he said,
"no, I'm saving this for me." he's like, "we have a plan for rotator."
[man] you ready?
Yep. Let's take them out.
-We got this. -[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[chris] jackpot. Rotator.
Winner moves on.
Loser, see you next year.
[buzzer buzzing]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Jackpot on the move.
Straight into rotator with that big wedge.
And now attacking with that double disc.
Nice shot by jackpot to the backside of rotator.
[kenny] good driving by jeff waters jr.
[chris] jackpot's got rotator again!
Can he drive him into the corner? He does!
And that pulverizer is not dropping because
because that one belongs to victor's--
[kenny and chris] oh!
[chris] nice hit with the spinners.
[kenny] rotator has to regroup here.
This is where victor wants the action, in the center of the box.
Rotator is the more agile robot.
Oh! What a hit!
Rotator going after jackpot now.
Going after that diamond cutter.
Trying to get to the back end.
Nice work by rotator.
[kenny] victor soto doing a great job of adapting on the fly, chris.
[chris] oh! Another one!
[kenny] he's able to go from defense to offense in the blink of an eye.
[chris] oh! Huge hit!
Wow! Holy smokes!
My goodness!
[man] we're done.
[chris] it is possible jackpot is doa.
[kenny] that felt like the death blow, chris.
And without a self-righter, this might be the end of jackpot's cinderella story.
[chris] rotator giving it a sniff, it says,
"smells like dead meat to me. I'm outta here."
-ten, nine, eight... -[chris] the countdown has started!
The rookie run of the 11th seed, jackpot,
has come to an end at the hands of rotator.
Jackpot is knocked out! Winner...
[people cheering]
-good job, guys! -Yeah. That was an awesome match.
-Really put up a fight. -Yeah.
[chris] kenny, jackpot had a ton of success in its debut season
by keeping things simple.
Did they overthink this one?
[kenny] I think so. They tried to play rotator's game
and alternate between offense and defense with that new rear wedge.
Jackpot had a really strong start to this fight
and I think they actually surprised rotator.
But victor soto adapted quickly
and showed jackpot what experience is all about.
[chris] rotator's so skilled at controlling the action with its rear end.
And then whipping that horizontal spinner into its opponents.
And check out this knockout shot.
Boom!
Jackpot got hung up on the rails.
Couldn't move and come on!
Say it with me!
[chris and kenny] if you don't have a self-righter here at battlebots,
you're in big trouble.
[chris] rotator. Moving on.
[chris] victor soto!
Be gentle.
-Victor! Over here, man! -Hey!
Yeah! There's that smile we're used to.
Does it kind of erase the bad taste that was in your mouth from the regular season?
Uh...
Yeah, a bit. [chuckles]
a ko is definitely the way to go. That's what we want.
We don't wanna leave it to the judges anymore.
But it feels good to get to the round of 16 now.
And victor, can you take us through the fight a little bit?
Yeah, so, actually, they surprised us.
I wasn't sure if they were gonna use the plow or not.
I kept spying on them, and I think they were...
They noticed.
They did something interesting where they put the plow on the back
and I don't know if they were spinning backwards.
So, that was really sneaky.
So I was like, oh, okay, so, either I gotta hit them from the front,
or face the wedge.
But, just in case, I had the forks on.
And I think it prevented them from getting underneath us.
And I think that strategy worked out real well for us.
You've advanced, you know, through the tournament now.
Do you feel like you've dialed rotator in?
Oh, yeah, yeah. Rotator's working great.
The weapon's hitting hard.
My driving's getting a little bit better.
And I think we have a good chance.
Were you sweating it out before you heard from the selection committee
because you only went 1 and 2 during the regular season?
I was nervous.
And it seems like every year we seem to cut it pretty close.
Our record's not always the best, but...
I just hope we put on really entertaining fights.
Victor, congratulations. We'll see you in the round of 16.
Thank you, guys. See you soon.
[chris] so, victor soto's won two in a row,
as rotator is peaking just in time.
And they won't be waiting long to find out their next opponent,
because coming up,
perfect phoenix looks to rise from the ashes
to take on the killer kiwis and end game.
Vertical violence meets horizontal horror!
That's next, as the battlebots 2020 tournament rages on.
We're back on battlebots.
It's the continuation of the round of 32.
And up next, the 6th seed, end game,
taking on the 27th seed, perfect phoenix,
captained by the 11-year-old, tyler nguyen.
And kenny, we spend so much time talking about how young this kid is.
But we're not making excuses for him.
[kenny] that's absolutely right.
The fact is, regardless of his age,
tyler has made it to the round of 32 on merit and skill alone.
He's already challenging for elite driver status,
and he's far from intimidated by the big stage.
I'm excited to see what he brings as the 27th seed,
looking for his first-ever tournament win.
[chris] and another bot that some may be surprised to learn
is also on the hunt for its first tournament victory,
is the 6th seed, end game.
Kenny, are they finally dialed in for the tournament this year, in your opinion?
[kenny] well, we'll see.
End game is known as one of the heaviest-hitting bots in the competition.
But the question has become, can they get it done when it counts?
They've had an impressive run so far.
But the tournament is a different story.
They're the 6th seed for a reason.
They're going to be looking to make a statement here tonight.
[chris] both of these warriors are locked and loaded behind the glass.
Only one can fight their way into the top 16.
[robotic voice] blue team, ready?
[chris] end game's lone loss this season was against bloodsport,
which, of course, is the 2 seed in the tournament.
What a great run for end game.
[kenny] yeah absolutely. We've seen them struggle
with reliability in the past,
but right now, that disc is hitting harder than most weapons in the competition.
Old issues have a way of rearing their ugly heads in the tournament.
Let's see how end game holds together on the big stage.
[robotic voice] red team, ready?
[chris] kenny, we know that tyler's being mentored
by tombstone captain, ray billings.
What influence has ray had over tyler and perfect phoenix this season?
[kenny] well, tyler has a great handle on the how of running perfect phoenix.
But ray's experience has been a huge help with these quick rebuilds.
And don't forget, ray's first loss of the season was to end game.
So, there might be a little added incentive for tyler here tonight.
[audience cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[buzzer buzzing]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Keep your eye on the driving ability of tyler nguyen.
11 years old.
But ray billings says he's better than 80% of the adult drivers here.
Which spinner will draw first blood?
End game's weapon so far, not--
[loud crash]
okay! How you doing?
-[kenny] jeez! Oh! -[chris] okay! All right!
Maybe I spoke too soon.
-[kenny] oh, my goodness. -[chris] wow!
Hell, yeah!
[kenny] ooh! Ooh!
[chris] perfect phoenix is up on the screws,
now those screws should rotate back.
[kenny] whoo!
[chris] jack barker lining it up.
Is he gonna give him a shot?
He's done, he's done.
[chris] no! He's gonna take the win.
...Seven, six...
[chris] so, the amazing run for 11-year-old tyler nguyen
-comes to an end. -Four, three...
-As end game gets its first-ever tournament victory. -That's a knockout!
[buzzer blares]
[crowd cheering]
it's been a long road. It's been a good road.
[chris] kenny, with a weapon as powerful as end game's,
it's only a matter of time before someone is seeing stars.
[kenny] yeah. I don't remember being this scared
when I'm seeing another robot that gets this close to us.
Usually, I'm very confident in the battlebox.
Right there, I think both of us almost had an accident in our pants.
Endgame is just an absolute beast.
They went out there, they did what they were supposed to do,
that's gonna be a tough bot to beat, man.
[chris] yeah, a little too much information from kenny florian yet again.
Some secrets are supposed to stay right here and locked and sealed.
Thanks, bud!
[crowd cheering]
finally!
[chris] yeah, finally, guys,
nick and jack congratulations!
You're moving on to the round of 16, are you relieved or excited, nick?
We're incredibly relieved.
We were having some speed controller issues earlier today,
we've been working on them all day.
And they weren't quite where we wanted them to be,
we ran out of time, so we were a little worried,
but turns out everything was okay.
It seems like you guys took the approach of slowly, slowly
and then all at once.
Well, yeah, the strategy we decided to go for
going into the match was slow, slow, slow
and hopefully we'll slow their weapon down on our wedge.
But our wedges kind of just seemed to touch each other
and we just couldn't get any engagement. So we just had to slam them into the wall
and just see what happens then.
Luckily, we got off better in the collision.
So, what would a few more victories and getting the giant nut
mean to you after all that hard work?
That would be everything.
We thought the tombstone fight was everything, but now...
-Now we want the nut. -Now we want the nut.
[chuckles] yeah.
[chris] well, guys, congratulations,
you're on to the round of 16, a job well-done.
We'll see you next time.
-Cheers. -Thank you.
[all applauding]
[chris] so, endgame makes quick work of perfect phoenix,
and they draw yet another horizontal spinner,
as they'll be taking on rotator in the round of 16.
And coming up, the electrifying 3 seed copperhead
starts its run for the nut, as it looks to send 30 seed mammoth back to the ice age.
Only one can move on...
That's next on battlebots.
The world championship tournament.
Welcome back to battlebots.
Where two out of the three fights
here in group number three have resulted in upsets.
Will the trend continue?
Next up, it is the knockout artist,
copperhead vs the tallest robot in the entire field...
Mammoth!
Let's start with the number 3 seed copperhead.
I remember at the beginning of the season,
zach goff told us last season's version of the robot
was the almost-robot, like we almost got things right.
This season en route to a 3 and 0 record,
they got everything right, what about the match-up for them?
[kenny] you know, he's a little concerned with mammoth actually,
when it comes to fighting a unique bot like mammoth,
you need an equally unique approach.
Zach knows, if he keeps moving and picks his moment to strike,
he can outmaneuver the clunky mammoth,
and dial up some damage and aggression points in case it goes to the judges.
As for the story of the number 30 seed, mammoth,
captained by ricky willems,
their season started off great with an epic knockout over huge.
But ever since then, they've had a tough time getting it going.
[kenny] yeah, I mean that's kind of expected when you have a bot like mammoth.
And in only its second season,
ricky is still very much developing mammoth's identity in the box.
So, he learns as much from his losses as he does his wins.
Last season, we saw mammoth fall to another drum-spinner in one.
Copperhead is far more powerful,
so, we'll see how that experience comes into play for ricky here.
Faruq, let's get it going!
In the blue square, from loveland, colorado,
the venomous menace, copperhead!
[chris] kenny, that is probably the most destructive
drum-spinner in battlebots today.
[kenny] yeah, this thing is absolutely nasty.
Reminds me a lot of the brazilian team, minotaur.
But this thing is compact, it is durable and firing...
Very powerful.
[chris] team copperhead showing us a little choreography there.
You know, kenny, we never dance anymore.
[kenny laughs]
[crowd cheering]
in the red square, from baltimore, maryland,
it's the trunk-a-delic mammoth!
[kenny] and here comes the big boy. Standing at 6'4" tall,
-mammoth! -[chris] and ricky willems.
They have a chance to silence a lot of skeptics here, kenny.
[kenny] that's right we have to remember
that mammoth has had a similar journey to huge.
When we first looked up at it we had no idea what it was or if it would even work.
And a season later, here it is in the tournament.
I know ricky wants more, but you have to applaud innovation in action.
Major accomplishment even making it this far
so we're going up against mammoth tonight.
I think it's our fight to lose.
My biggest concern is that mammoth just smothers copperhead.
So, my plan is to keep the bot mobile,
keep our speed high, so that we don't get entangled and then trapped inside of them.
And as long as we just do running, glancing blows at mammoth,
I think we will win this one.
We gotta come in and we gotta be strategic,
we gotta be careful and we have to throw him around.
So, we're gonna go back to the weapon that we used with huge,
our uhmw weapon.
We didn't expect to use that against someone like copperhead,
but we absolutely have to based on the parts we have left to fix this robot.
Everything has to go right in this fight for mammoth to win.
My driving has to be perfect, the robot has work perfectly
and every shot has to be timed perfectly.
So, this is gonna be do-or-die.
And I'm really hoping it's not die.
-Full violence, full... -Absolutely.
[audience cheering]
let loose!
[speaking indistinctly]
I'm gonna try.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[buzzing]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
-[kenny] now neither bot has protection on the wheels. -[chris] whoa!
That's gonna be way more of a problem for mammoth.
-All right, little snake. -[chuckles]
[chris] well, copperhead went right into the belly of mammoth
and delivered a huge shot.
[kenny] ricky willems and mammoth unfazed, though.
[chris] oh! Mammoth lands a solid blow to copperhead's weapon,
and now punts them into the side of the box, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, mammoth just smothering copperhead and look at this,
got them inverted, oh! They land another blow! How about mammoth?
[chris and kenny] oh!
[chris] a huge weapon-to-weapon collision there
as copperhead looks to counter that impressive sequence by mammoth!
[chris] zach goff resets.
[kenny] you hear that drum-spinner firing up, copperhead on the attack!
And now driving mammoth backwards!
I'm trying, trying.
[kenny] copperhead doing its little job of winning the low ground here, chris.
But they may have a weapon issue now that drum-spinner seems to be slowing down.
-[chris] that is big-time trouble! -[kenny] oh!
[chris] mammoth's trying to cut off copperhead in the corner
of the battlebox, right in front of us, unable to do it.
Copperhead's gotta get out of there
gets back to the center of the box to regroup.
A minute-20 now into this fight.
And without a primary weapon, how is copperhead going to score points?
Mammoth can smell the opportunity!
Bots lock horns and mammoth puts copperhead back on its heels yet again.
So impressive!
[kenny] mammoth doing exactly what it's designed to do,
confuse bots with its size and lure them into that spinning weapon.
And copperhead, the number 3 seed,
searching for a way to put points on the board.
[chris] yeah, let's remember copperhead won its qualifying round fights
in such decisive fashion, kenny.
As mammoth inverts copperhead yet again.
This is unchartered territory for the number 3 overall seed.
Zach goff's like, "what?"
[kenny] it's a good point.
Copperhead is not used to going this deep into fights this season, but listen,
they have stayed aggressive and had some nice exchanges at the top of this fight.
They just have to keep their foot on the gas here.
[chris] under a minute to go! Can the 30th seed pull off the major upset?
Oh! Not if copperhead has something to say about it!
And look at this, the top-spinner's back, kenny!
Mammoth's on the attack! Holy smokes!
Can zach goff find a way to even the scorecards,
in the last 30 seconds of this fight?
[kenny] unbelievable! Back from the dead!
[chris] copperhead going right into the belly of the beast.
Can it take off a piece of mammoth?
[kenny] landed some nice shots there, chris!
And another one! They are going for it with 15 seconds left in this fight!
[chris] copperhead resets and now you can hear that drum-spinner humming again
with under 10 to go!
Oh!
Copperhead pops mammoth into the air
and mammoth hits copperhead! Oh, my goodness!
-Good job! -Wow!
[chris] so after a fascinating fight,
the fate of these two bots rests in the hands of the judges.
Will copperhead move on to the top 16
or has mammoth stomped out an upset?
Find out next when the championship tournament continues.
[chris] we are right back into the action here on battlebots,
as the 3 seed copperhead
and the 30th seed, mammoth await their fate from the judges.
Only one can move on to the top 16.
[indistinct conversation]
-think so? -Yeah.
That was wild.
[chris] well, kenny florian, I do not envy the judges in this spot.
Does the number 3 seed copperhead actually survive this decision?
[kenny] man, this is gonna be close.
Copperhead was super aggressive as always, scored some damage points early.
But a really impressive performance by mammoth.
Just such an awkward bot to contend with.
They smothered copperhead and stopped their weapon for a long stretch of this fight.
Not a good look for the favorites.
[chris] and that really is the big question for me here, kenny.
If you're the judges, can you look past the fact that copperhead's drum-spinner
was a non-factor this fight for well over a minute?
Mammoth controlled the pace in that window.
But zach goff's weapon came back to life with a vengeance in the last 45 seconds.
And actually did some serious damage.
[kenny] yeah, he really needed that, he really needed to finish this fight strong.
But with all that, I still don't know which way the judges are gonna go.
I'd be leaning towards copperhead but, too close for comfort here, chris.
The results from the judges are in!
We have a split decision.
Judge derek scored the battle in favor of mammoth!
Judge lisa scores the battle in favor of copperhead!
[faruq] judge jason scored the battle for the winner...
Mammoth!
[crowd cheering]
-[audience cheering] -yeah!
-Yes! -[chris] ricky willems!
Hi, kenny. Hi, chris. How are you doing today?
I don't think we're as well as you are.
Absolutely not! I'm sorry it doesn't matter
how good of a day you're having, I'm having a better one!
[chris and kenny laugh]
how did you pull off the mammoth upset?
Oh! I knew you were going for that.
We went in, we tossed them around, we dominated control.
They took off the parts that, you know, we'd figured they'd take off.
Some of those things aren't meant to come off the way they did.
They put some nicks, but we stopped their weapon for a good half of the match.
We tossed them around, we got them on their back.
Everything went exactly to plan.
And I am just overwhelmingly thrilled.
You're like chris rose. You're awkward but you're effective.
You just beat the number three bot in the tournament.
-Take us through the fight. -Oh!
We came out swinging... Um...
We pushed them around,
we got them on their side. I don't know what we did
to stop their weapon halfway through but...
You know, it slowed down, we tried to take advantage of that,
we flipped over and over, we got them up on the wall.
It was so much packed into three minutes, it felt like three seconds.
Hi, ricky, it's captain awkward, here with a question.
You were actually one of the last bots to actually make it into the round of 32.
How much were you sweating even doing that?
Bullets. I was sweating bullets.
The amount of repairs we had to do after that hypershock fight,
the amount of tweaks we had to make,
the things that went wrong. My team has worked so hard, I've worked so hard.
I'm overwhelmingly thrilled, I just cannot tell you.
Ricky, one quick note before you leave.
I know that your brother just had a kidney transplant,
he's probably watching at home. Is there anything you wanna say to him?
Thank you for being so supportive through all this
and if I could make a request, kenny if you could give a shout-out to steven willems
on-screen, he would love you for it forever. He's such a big mma guy.
Steven, you're an amazing fighter, I'm so glad that you're feeling better.
And one of these days we'll have to get you here to watch in person.
Thank you, man. Thank you.
[chris] ricky, congratulations to you and your entire team.
You're moving on to the round of 16.
Yes! Yes!
[chris] so, 30 seed mammoth moves on to face
19th seed shatter in a matchup of the bracket-busters.
Coming up, a teenage rivalry is reignited.
Jamison go faces off against matt spurk for the first time in over a decade.
As the7th seed sawblaze lights it up against 26th seed, kraken.
That's next.
[chris] we are back on battlebots.
The world championship tournament rages on,
as we move into a power-packed group number two.
In a first, we've got a match up of--
hey! Don't I know you?
It's the 7th seed sawblaze and the 26th seed kraken.
Matt spurk and jamison go. They have a history that dates
back to when jamison was barely a teenager.
As matt tells it, little jamison used to drive circles around him,
in the three-pound category when jamison was like 12 or 13.
Yeah, they've known each other for about 15-16 years, of course,
matt said he'd like to get revenge.
He said jamison was such a good driver, but different bots,
250-pound bots, very important fight here.
[chris] as for jamison go and sawblaze, they enter this familiar
throwdown sitting pretty as the 7th seed.
We know it has a mean weapon, we know it is well-driven.
What's jamison got to do to make a real run here?
[kenny] I mean, that about covers it.
Jamison and sawblaze do just about everything right.
They're the favorite in most of the fights they go into,
which means there's a lot of pressure here,
but jamison is confident in his bot, confident in himself,
and he believe this is just another step closer to his first giant nut.
Let's see if kraken can pull off the upset. Faruq, take it away.
In the blue square, from cambridge, massachusetts,
feel the burn, it's sawblaze!
[chris] jamison go's bot,
always in tip-top shape and now that weapon, more fierce than ever.
[kenny] yeah, it sure is, it's actually increased by 50 miles an hour,
and now spinning at 250 miles an hour.
[chris] which is the maximum allowed.
[people cheering]
in the red square, from titusville, florida,
let's get crack-a-whackin', it's kraken
[chris] despite a 1 and 2 record, matt spurk
and kraken really had a phenomenal qualifying round, kenny.
[kenny] they really did. I was really impressed with both
the power of their primary weapon, that crusher.
And the durability of that bot.
Here we go, game time now! Game time!
-[chris] they enter this tournament as the 26th seed. -Kraken! Kraken!
[people chanting] kraken! Kraken! Kraken
tonight we're fighting kraken. It's a controlling,
kind of grabbing pressure bot.
What we want to avoid is to not get grabbed.
I think we can land a lot of hits onto the head, onto the chassis.
It could rack up enough points.
We might not be able to ko him. But we have to win that judges' decision, clearly.
For this fight we're gonna be using the hammer saw.
That's because we think it has the greatest ability
to deny kraken's ability to bite down.
And that weapon is powerful, he knows it. He's seen what it can do.
And so, we're hoping to use that and swing that around
in order to demotivate him from chasing us.
We've got a robot that is very easily able to exploit
the weak spot of kraken which is our very vulnerable
equipment in the top of the head.
This match we're considering using our short teeth.
And they give us-- they're about three-inch long teeth.
They give us an extra three inches of vertical height.
Sawblaze is a relatively tall robot.
So that'll allow us to get us over the top and pinch their arm behind them.
We said our goal for this season was just to get into
the tournament and then we'll make some noise when we get in there.
There's no bigger noise than an upset over sawblaze in round one.
[robot voice] robots, activate!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] our bot whisperer pete, a few last-minute notes on sawblaze?
[peter] sawblaze is this marvel of engineering. I love this bot.
We've heard of ar400 with witch doctor, which is a very hard steel.
We've heard ar500 which is the even harder version
of the steel with chomp's skirt.
[peter] the blade here is ar550.
So, we will see how hard it can be as it knocks on kraken's head.
[robot voice] blue team, ready?
-Time to burn! -Let's go.
Beast-slaying tonight.
[robot voice] red team, ready?
Play-offs, baby!
This is gonna be a good one.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[buzzer blaring]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Sawblaze has got that flame working already.
Taking kraken into the screws.
[kenny] what a start for sawblaze!
[chris and kenny] oh!
[chris] sawblaze lands a power shot with that hammer saw.
Kraken trying to regain its balance.
And it gets out of the screws.
Oh! And now kraken clamping down on that weapon of sawblaze.
Here we go!
[bleep]
[kenny] this is exactly what it wanted to do.
[chris] now kraken can take sawblaze around the arena.
For 30 seconds and then it must release.
[kenny] kraken's so good at using its clamping ability
to show the judges "hey, I'm in control of this fight."
-[chris] yep. -[kenny] well, we're gonna find out how strong that ar550
blade really is. Kraken trying to chop down on it.
[chris] this is what kraken has to do in order to win.
Try and take it for a ride. Few more seconds and the kraken must release.
[kenny] 60,000 pounds of pressure in those jaws.
[chris] really good job so far by kraken to hold on to that.
-[referee] kraken, that's one warning. You gotta release. -We're releasing.
[chris] there must be a release.
There it is.
Uh-oh!
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] sawblaze willing to go head-to-head once again.
[chris] that is a risky move.
[kenny] yeah, but he did land a nice shot there but I agree, chris. He's taking a risk
by going head-to-head with kraken.
[chris] jamison go, trying to scoop up kraken.
And he's got him but can he take him
-to the corner or at least the rail? Oh! -[kenny] oh! What a hit!
[chris] sawblaze looking to even the scorecards
and kraken may be in trouble.
[kenny] and the tire's gone, chris.
That was a brilliant shot by jamison go.
[chris] unbelievable!
Jamison go is gonna back up and see if kraken can move at all.
Hey, going in a half circle is not good enough, but look at this.
Sawblaze has said, "I'm not done with you."
-[chris] I wanna keep playing. -[kenny] unbelievable.
-[kenny] kraken is still going. -[chris exclaims]
[chris] wow!
Sawblaze has kraken pinned now
and drops another monster shot to the head of matthew spurk's bot.
[indistinct conversation]
[kenny] yeah, jamison is really turning it on now.
[chris] kraken behind on the scorecards and looking for a miracle.
Trying to get in position to maybe score another clamp on sawblaze.
But here comes sawblaze driving kraken into the corner.
Sawblaze backs away. Under a minute left to go.
Sawblaze retreats to the opposite corner.
[kenny] but jamison's not able to utilize his primary weapon
chris, I don't think he can get that saw to move.
[chris] but here he is on the attack.
Rams kraken into the side of the box.
And kenny, every time sawblaze gets in close like that,
it risks being caught up in kraken's jaws yet again.
-[kenny] uh-oh! -[chris] oh!
Nice job taking kraken into the rails.
Now, 20 seconds to go.
[kenny] jamison go has no fear chris. Still hunting kraken.
He knows if you go to the judges, anything can happen.
Team sawblaze trying to make a statement here.
[chris] somehow this fight is gonna go the distance.
Between these two long-time friends.
[kenny] two very durable bots.
[buzzer blaring]
[crowd cheering]
yeah! [cheers]
[chris] in the early going, kraken had that biting mechanism working oh-so-well.
[kenny] I mean, kraken got off to a brilliant start. I mean, look at that.
Biting down on that primary weapon of sawblaze.
Just an insane amount of force right there.
Kraken jumped ahead in the control category,
but then sawblaze went into attack mode.
[chris] jamison go with a pin-point shot here
that ripped the wheel off of kraken.
Somehow, kraken was still able to drive around the battlebox.
And even though sawblaze lost control of its primary weapon,
in the later stages of this fight,
the team stayed aggressive and kept the pressure on.
And one last hit into the rails,
is it enough to help sawblaze advance?
It's time to find out.
The results from the judges are in.
The winner by unanimous decision is...
Sawblaze!
[cheering]
[crowd cheering]
jamison go, are you relieved?
Yeah. That was a really scary moment in the middle of that fight.
I'm very relieved that the judges' decision came the way it did.
Can you talk us through this fight, jamison?
Well, the real strategy was to try to avoid that front
that long arm I think out-reaches us, as you know,
our strategy is usually out-reach the other guy.
If they keep us away it's no good so stay away from that front tongue.
Get around, hit whatever we can.
And see if we can rack up damage over time.
You know, you first fought matt spurk about
16, 17 years ago. What was it like now
fighting with the play-offs on the line?
It's definitely a lot more pressure. I mean, back then,
it's definitely like a really welcoming community.
Matt was one of the first people I met.
I consider him one of my mentors.
And you know actually, you think about it,
it's a great chance, it was a great time fighting him too.
Feel all that comradery still.
Very good, jamison. It's gonna be a great fight in the round of 16. Congratulations.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so, sawblaze heads to the round of 16
with the judges' blessing and sends childhood rival
matt spurk and kraken back to the floridian depths.
Congrats to him on an excellent season.
Coming up next, it's hard hitting bloodsport.
Taking on the tank that is gruff.
It's a 2 vs. 31 donnybrook.
Find out who's moving on in the battlebots world championship tournament, next.
[chris] we are back on battlebots,
as the world championship rages on.
Next up, one of the most dominant teams
from the qualifying rounds. The undefeated 2 seed bloodsport.
Will face the brawny 31 seed gruff.
And let's start with the cinderblock that is gruff.
Captain sam mcamis scraped into the round of 32
after capping the qualifiers with a very disappointing loss to extinguisher.
And, kenny, something tells me gruff is coming into tonight with a vengeance.
[kenny] absolutely. We've seen gruff give trouble
to elite bots like whiplash and tombstone.
And you have to think, they're pulling out all the stops
to remind the world, just how formidable they can be.
We spend a lot of time saying gruff is built like a tank.
And going up against a horizontal spinner
like bloodsport, they're definitely positioned for a potential upset.
[chris] and you mentioned bloodsport, the 2 seed captained by justin marple.
In their second season here at battlebots, what set them apart?
[kenny] well, obviously that spinner is one of the most
destructive in the field. But I don't know if we give
enough credit to how well bloodsport is driven.
Justin showed stellar tactical skills while outdriving
a very skilled zach lytle in a win over skorpios
in the qualifiers coupled with a weapon capable of consistent knockouts.
I'm excited to see what they bring to the tournament.
[crowd clapping]
[chris] both drivers are already locked, loaded,
and ready to rock behind the glass.
Let's see who's moving on to the top 16.
[crowd cheering]
[robot voice] blue team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
kenny, justin marple told us he expects to go to the judges in this one.
[kenny] that's right. Justin said he's seen the kind of
punishment gruff can take and plans to use that
tri-disc weapon more strategically,
in an attempt to avoid destroying themselves, on the hulking gruff.
[robot voice] red team, ready?
[crowd cheering]
[chris] keep in mind, gruff has burnt out its drive motors
in two of its three fights.
It has a powerful flamethrower. But the question is,
will they or won't they flame out tonight?
[kenny] we'll see, they have a new fortified wedge that
will allow them to face bloodsport's weapon head-on.
And if those drive motors can hold on, it's possible that we see an upset here, chris.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[buzzer blaring]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Gruff on the chase, but bloodsport's weapon now full-bore.
[all exclaim]
[chris] jeez! What the heck was that?
[kenny] bloodsport just destroyed its spinner in that exchange, chris.
That tri-blade is now a dual-blade
and that is going to be a big problem for the number 2 seed.
[chris] holy smokes! And there's no way that
thing's gonna run again. So now, does gruff have the major advantage?
Somebody, get some duct tape for our battlebots sign
and do not light that thing on fire. That costs $5.99. Stay away from it.
[kenny] how about that modification there,
with those chunks of steel, the chocolate bars
as gruff likes to call it...
[chris] so, the number 2 overall seed in this tournament
back on its heels early in this one.
As it gets caught on the front of gruff,
and gruff pouring on the flames now.
[kenny] a nice counter by bloodsport,
using their broken weapon's momentum to free themselves there.
[chris] bloodsport obviously cannot fire up that weapon to
full speed. So how in the world can it win, kenny?
[kenny] well you're seeing it right here.
They need to fall back on the elite driving skill
of justin marple, stay aggressive and try and control the action here.
[chris] if you get enough control and aggression points, you still can win this fight.
[kenny] oh! Gruff very close to getting a flip, there.
[chris] bloodsport still has those two front wedgelets intact.
And has done a really good job at using those to get underneath gruff.
Who at this point doesn't seem to really be moving very well, kenny.
[kenny] spot-on, chris! Here comes bloodsport driving gruff into the rails.
[chris] under a minute to go now.
Stay away from the front. Stay away from the front.
[kenny] you can hear, the team members for bloodsport
saying "don't give up, even though our primary weapon
is down, we can still win this fight."
[chris] and look at that, the pulverizer dropping down doing some damage on gruff.
[kenny] they're still very determined to beat this tough gruff.
[chris] and now, bloodsport's taking a hit from the pulverizer.
Can that upper 2 seed overcome the loss
of its primary weapon or will we see a giant upset?
[kenny] well, the good news for bloodsport is gruff
is just not driving very well. I think the hits on gruff
are really taking its toll on it as well.
[chris] closing in on 20 seconds to go.
Yeah, gruff is having major drive issues.
[kenny] hasn't been able to do much damage since that opening exchange.
Oh! But it manages to rip off one of bloodsport's wedgelets right there.
[kenny] some nice last minute points by gruff and here goes the other one.
[chris] a lot to digest here as these two
-bots end up going the distance. -[buzzer sounds]
[crowd cheering]
[man] I think we still won that.
[chris] this is going to be a remarkable decision
by the judges. Very challenging as it goes to the scorecards.
That weapon's so ferocious for bloodsport, but, my gosh!
The energy of that collision just wrecked bloodsport's
blade and put the number 2 seed back on its heels.
But to his credit, justin marple did not panic.
Instead, he went to work and out-drove gruff the rest of this match.
[kenny] that's right. Bloodsport was able to dictate
the action. Get underneath gruff and push it around the battlebox.
[chris] you know, gruff did get the flamethrower
involved, but was definitely struggling in the mobility
department for the back half of this fight.
This is gonna be a tough one to call.
[kenny] bloodsport drove an awesome fight.
I'm just not sure they're gonna be able to overcome
the loss of that weapon, chris.
[chris] does the number 2 seed survive? Let's find out.
The results from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
Judge derek scored the battle for gruff.
-Whoo! -Whoo!
Judge lisa scored the battle for bloodsport.
[claps]
judge jason scored the battle, for the winner...
Bloodsport!
[cheering]
whoo!
[crowd clapping]
[chris] justin marple?
Justin marple.
Can you breathe? Exhale.
Oh man! That--
right at the beginning of the match when that thing broke,
I just-- my heart sank. I couldn't believe it. But,
you know fortunately our wedgelets were able to get under him, push him around and
yeah, it's--
speechless!
How nervous were you when faruq made the announcement?
Oh! I was so nervous. I wasn't sure how the judging would--
how the judging would go. We were talking about it, you know,
last minute. Just trying to figure how the points work out and,
I'm just happy it's in our favor.
What do you think the difference was?
I think we had a lot of control and aggression
in the second half of that match, for sure.
[chuckles]
all right. Well, justin, congratulations to you,
and team bloodsport as you survived and advanced.
-That's the name of the game. -Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[chris] so gruff and sam mcamis will head back to florida
to work out those drive motor issues for next season.
And for the number 2 seed, bloodsport.
The wins they just keep on a-coming as they extend their streak to 4 and 0.
Up next, we'll find out who bloodsport will face,
as the 15th seed, fusion fires up its devastating dual-weapons
against the powerful punches of the 18 seed tantrum.
That's when battlebots continues.
[chris] we are back on battlebots where we just
witnessed the 2 seed, bloodsport slice its way into
the top 16 and you can be sure they'll be watching this next fight
very closely as they will face the winner.
We've got the number 15 seed, fusion taking on the 18 seed tantrum.
And let's start with the double threat that is fusion.
We've already seen reese ewert's older brother jake
steamroll his way into the top 16
breaking what they call the whyachi curse.
Which is essentially the ewert family's failure
to make it past the first round in over a decade.
Now, reese. He is trying to do the same thing with fusion.
So, how's he feeling, kenny?
-Stressed. Very stressed. -[laughs]
-but-- -is that because he's a ewert
-and that's just the way they roll. -Could be.
[kenny] reese knows the whyachi curse is technically
broken but now it's a little superstition mixed with a lot of sibling rivalry.
Reese wants to break his own whyachi curse,
but most importantly, he wants to carry on for a shot at winning the giant nut.
[chris] tantrum is the 18 seed captained by aren hill.
And you gave them what fictitious award?
The mib award. The most improved bot.
Yeah, what do they get? They don't get a you know
he asked us well, "all right kenny, what do I get?
Do I get a piece of hardware, do I get a bolt?"
do I get a-- you wanted to give him half your burrito
from this morning. That wasn't good enough for him.
I don't know why he didn't take that.
No, no. I thought it was a pretty good deal myself.
-Yeah, I was very generous. -But all jokes aside, listen.
We've seen him in the previous two seasons,
up and down. More downs than up.
And now they got this thing pointed in the right direction
[kenny] they really do. And don't forget that tantrum
is built like a brick. They've got that powerful punching
vertical spinner. And aren hill is doing
the best driving we've ever seen from him.
Let's see if he can keep it going against one of
the first families of robot combat.
[crowd cheering]
[robot voice] robots, activate!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] these two teams combine for six knockouts between them.
And they're already dialed up to throw it down inside the box.
[robot voice] blue team, ready?
[chris] reese ewert and fusion with its history-making
dual-weapon configuration and reese is hoping for a quick one here, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, that's right. With all the overheating issues fusion has had
this season, they wanna make this short and sweet as not to risk quote "blowing up again."
he's gonna come hard.
[robot voice] red team, ready?
[chris] so what's the big plan of attack for tantrum tonight?
[kenny] well, you know they're the more compact bot.
They're gonna try to look to get underneath fusion.
Get that vertical disc spinner and try to get fusion
to do a lot of its own work. Try to get fusion to destroy itself a little bit.
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
Just get out of there.
[buzzer blaring]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Tantrum using that speed and getting underneath fusion.
-[kenny] oh! -[chris] drives fusion into the rails.
[kenny] you can hear tantrum firing up to full speed.
[all exclaim]
[chris] a hard driving punch from the disc of tantrum.
Fusion is scrambling.
[kenny] uh-oh! Fusion having a lot of trouble staying on the ground. Oh!
[chris] oh, no!
Huge weapon-to-weapon collision that sends fusion
flying into the side of the box.
[kenny] tantrum all over them.
[indistinct conversation]
[chris] oh! But it looks like tantrum's weapon took some
major damage in that exchange, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, it's still spinning but that thing is bent badly.
Oh! Uh-oh!
[chris] a hard shot by fusion. Tantrum looks stunned.
[kenny] yeah, tantrum having some drive issues.
Fusion has an opportunity here.
Ooh!
[chris] and tantrum, not afraid to go right into that horizontal spinner
takes a hard shot from fusion.
Reese ewert trying to make a comeback.
Fusion looking for room to reset, here.
-[kenny] uh-oh! -[chris] oh! Fusion climbs on top of tantrum.
And now fusion is in engulfed in flames!
[kenny] wow!
[chris] holy smokes!
Just don't do anything risky. See if you got drive.
[chris] fusion is on fire, but tantrum's like,
"how do I put this thing out? Get off of me!"
[kenny] tantrum is still moving.
Even with a 250-pound bot on its head.
Hey, chris. I don't see anything working on fusion.
[chris] now, reese ewert's in serious trouble.
No wheels. No weapon.
And a countdown. It could be coming soon.
[referee] counting to 10!
-Yep! There it is. The ref has seen enough. -[counting]
fusion completely incapacitated on top of tantrum's head.
-And we have never, ever seen anything quite like this. -[buzzer blares]
[cheering]
[chris] that look on reese ewert's face says it all.
[speaking indistinctly]
[chris] well, one of the crazier endings
to a fight we've seen in a very, very long time.
Break this one down for us, mr. Florian.
[kenny] this was pretty one-sided to start, chris.
Tantrum clearly had the speed advantage and used it to
control fusion and land some power shots.
But after this huge collision right here,
tantrum damaged its weapon and fusion turned the tables.
[chris] reese ewert's bot was able to score some points
with its horizontal spinner. It was actually looking pretty strong.
But how about this?
Fusion trying to attack with its vertical, climbs
up on tantrum's face and then...
-Explodes! -[kenny] yeah, I'm not sure I've ever seen a countdown
start while a bot was on another bot's head.
But it was obvious that fusion was completely disabled.
The ref had seen enough. And it was good night, fusion.
Aren hill, you have made it now to the round of 16.
How did you survive that mess?
I survived, but I made a really stupid move.
-No best driver award for me on this one. -Why?
He was up and teeter-tottering I didn't need to be anywhere near that.
He was gonna hit the ground and go somewhere else.
Instead, he landed on me. And now I got some work to do.
Big picture, here. You arrived with your bot and you didn't
know exactly how good you were gonna be. Now you're one of
the final 16 robots. How impressive is that!
We're pretty stoked with how far the concept has come
and the amount of work and upgrades we've managed
to put in over this event. Being in the top 16 feels awesome.
Aren, congratulations. Go take that bot to the pits.
And we'll see you in the round of 16.
See you, guys.
[cheering]
[chris] so a tip of the cap to team tantrum
as they will be moving on to the second round.
Where they will face the number 2 overall seed, bloodsport.
And as for reese ewert and rookie bot fusion,
it is back to the farm for an off-season overall.
Coming up, our final bout of the night.
Tombstone-killer skorpios taking on a resurgent witch doctor.
The 10 seed takes on the reigning runner-up.
That's next on battlebots!
[faruq] the winner...
Bloodsport!
Well, kenny you and pete always chicken out.
You say I don't wanna be the judge in this particular fight.
So right now, let's turn our attention to the people
who have no choice. Because they are our battlebots judges
derek, you were the only judge that had team gruff winning.
On your scorecard. Why did you see it that way?
Basically it was the damage to bloodsport.
The broken weapon, the broken wedgelets.
And what I really wanted to see was
bloodsport continuing to try to use its weapon.
I think that would've tipped into their favor, had they been a little more aggressive.
Jason bardis ended up voting for the winner, team bloodsport.
Jason, why did you go that direction?
That was a tough call. But, while bloodsport lost
most of its primary weapon, gruff lost half its drive.
And to me, mobility and drive is more important than
the weapon because that really drives aggression and control.
[chris] what an impressive performance by bloodsport!
[chris] we are back on battlebots
and we are down to just one remaining fight in the round of 32.
The winner of this match-up of course goes on to face 7th seed, sawblaze.
It's the 23rd seed witch doctor taking on the number 10 seed, skorpios.
And, yes, you heard me right. The 23rd seed witch doctor.
That's what happens when you go 1 and 2 and you have to
sweat it out, to await word from the selection committee
just to make it to the post-season party.
This lacking a little confidence right now or are they okay?
[kenny] I think they're okay. I can't remember a season where witch doctor
didn't face an uphill battle. If you remember the beginning of last season.
They were struggling with weapon motors for the first few fights.
And of course, they went on to almost win the giant nut.
They've got a strategic surgeon in mike gellatly.
You just can't count these guys out.
[chris] well, zach lytle of skorpios is no slouch with a radio, himself.
In the last match-up of the qualifying round,
skorpios shocked the world by knocking out tombstone.
Oh, my goodness!
And their reward from the selection committee,
another monster in witch doctor.
This is what happens if you wanna become a legendary
bot builder, you have to beat legendary bot builders.
[kenny] back-to-back legends here for zach lytle and skorpios.
It'll be a whole lot of fun. Faruq, do your thing.
[crowd cheering]
in the blue square, from miami, florida,
the voodoo doll to rule them all, it's witch doctor!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] kenny, when we asked andrea gellatly what changed
with witch doctor coming into tonight, she said, "not a single thing."
[kenny] yeah, that's right. After finally notching that
first win, they were so happy with how the robot performed.
That they're sticking with what got them here.
They just checked it for damage,
gave it the all-clear and are ready to make another long run.
[cheering]
in the red square, from crockett, california,
is the hardcore-pios, skorpios!
[crowd cheering]
[chris] zach lytle and his wife diana tarlson
make up team skorpios. How much does this fight mean to them, kenny?
Skorpios!
[kenny] well, it means everything.
Where witch doctor has felt the heat of the finals,
each win for the rest of skorpios' season is a career high.
In the truest sense of the phrase, "this is the biggest fight of zach lytle's life."
[chris] pete, skorpios has got a new set of choppers.
You have any intel for us?
I got some for you, guys. So if you notice right there
on that front wedge, there's been some sort of shark teeth
that have been added to the front.
That is because witch doctor's a little taller off the ground
on the sides and they planned that's how they're gonna get the high center.
Get that underneath there.
[chris] it should be a lot of fun. This is a tasty match-up, no questions about it.
Totally. If there's anybody that can around to the side
of witch doctor, it's gonna be zach.
[robot voice] robots activate.
[people cheering]
[chris] two versatile bots, each with a grab-bag of ways to get it done.
But only one can move on to the top 16.
[robot voice] blue team, ready?
[applause]
[robot voice] red team, ready?
[evil laugh]
[people cheering]
[crowd chanting] fight! Fight! Fight!
[buzzer blaring]
[chris] let the bot battle begin!
Two really good drivers, mike gellatly, zach lytle.
[kenny] witch doctor showing off its speed right now. Uh-oh!
[chris] but it is caught in skorpios' claw and...
Ooh!
Whoa! A hard-driving shot by witch doctor.
[kenny] great job by mike gellatly to get off of the front wedge of skorpios.
Went right on the attack right after too...
[chris] oh! What a hit. Big hit.
Witch doctor climbed up on skorpios and dropped a bomb straight to their saw.
[kenny] and that weapon is no longer spinning, chris.
Not gonna stop zach lytle from being aggressive, though.
[chris] uh-oh, witch doctor backed into the corner.
Oh! Skorpios fires that hammer saw but it's got no juice, kenny.
So what's the play here?
No, it's twisted from those hits, chris and now it feels
like zach lytle's thinking he has to break witch doctor's weapon
before they rack up any more damage points.
[chris] and that is huge in the eyes of the judges.
In scoring of damage, the biggest part of that
is damage done with your primary weapon.
And right now witch doctor's primary weapon is full-bore.
[kenny] and that weapon is so dangerous.
-[chris and kenny] oh! -[chris] and to get in there.
Skorpios needs to make a push here.
Zach lytle is doing a great job of keeping
his wedge pointed at witch doctor at all times.
[chris] yeah, but without its primary weapon, skorpios is behind the eight-ball.
Can they find a way to turn the tide?
90 seconds to go in this one.
Oh, a huge hit by witch doctor! And another one.
Uh-oh! Witch doctor gets flipped back over.
Oh, but does a nice job recovering.
Skorpios now just trying to utilize the battlebox to its advantage, kenny.
[kenny] yeah, the other thing that's in play here for skorpios
is just trying to keep the pressure on witch doctor.
And maybe burn out their motors in a pushing match.
[chris] oh, once again, a nice little kiss out there.
[kenny] witch doctor trying to go after the tires.
That right tire of skorpios, looks like it's compromised.
Some hammer shots on the top of witch doctor.
[chris] great use of the pulverizer. Perfect timing under a minute to go.
Both these bots with some magnificent driving.
Skorpios!
[both laugh]
-[chris and kenny] oh! -[chris] nice work!
That powerful weapon from witch doctor definitely piling up some points.
[kenny] skorpios has some serious horsepower able to bully witch doctor around.
What a shot by witch doctor!
[chris] I don't know if it's doing a ton of damage or not,
but, boy, that double disc is something sensational to see.
[kenny] those are the kinda shots that are gonna impress the judges, chris.
Get back here, and stop running away!
[chris] under 15 to go!
Skorpios, one last push. Trying to take witch doctor into the screws.
But mike gellatly does a great job getting back to the center of the box.
It's the final few ticks, as this round of 32 match goes the distance.
[buzzer blaring]
[applause and cheering]
[woman] we got them!
Yes! Holy cow!
This is amazing.
[chris] kenny, we saw bloodsport overcome the loss
of its primary weapon to win a split decision earlier tonight.
Does skorpios have a chance to do the very same thing?
[kenny] you know zach lytle drove an amazing fight
and definitely scored some control and aggression points.
You could argue skorpios did use its primary weapon to land some shots.
Just, without an active saw.
But I think the difference here is, that unlike gruff in that fight you mentioned,
witch doctor stayed mobile and aggressive the entire fight.
There was no let up, just non-stop attack.
[chris] well, crazier things have happened.
Skorpios with a masterful display of driving,
but was witch doctor's onslaught just too much?
Faruq has the decision.
The results from the judges are in.
[cheering]
the winner by unanimous decision is...
Witch doctor!
[cheering]
[chris] andrea and mike gellatly.
How in the world did you get this done tonight?
We haven't slept for the past 24 hours.
Just because witch doctor's the number 23 seed
doesn't mean it's any less powerful than last year.
The past fights are behind us, we're starting over.
This is the best witch doctor we've ever seen. And we're just getting started.
Can you guys take us through the fight a little bit?
Uh, not really. No, it's all a blur.
I know that they were gonna come out fast and be all over us.
Just like every opponent is really stepping their game up this year.
So it was really about trying to stay off their forks,
which they got under us a couple of times.
But I was able to kinda gyro the robot off.
And avoid them putting us up on the screws or into the hammer.
And they did hammer us, but whatever.
So it was really all about getting, landing a couple of big hits
and just showing a dominance and...
Damage and I think we might have broken their weapon at the beginning.
So we got lucky a few times they pinned us
and they weren't able to really execute with a good hammer move,
which I know they were relying on.
I mean we're super excited and like andrea said,
you know, I think I think the old witch doctor is back and better than ever.
[chris] andrea, you guys were in the final a season ago against bite force.
You know you've got a target on your back.
How exhausting is it when you know you're getting everybody's best?
I mean, so far before this season the pressure was always
to prove to ourselves that witch doctor was worthy to be here.
This season we're trying to live up to everybody else's expectations, you know.
It's more important than ever to show the best witch doctor that we can bring.
All right, great job and we will see you now in the round of 16.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
[cheering]
[chris] so witch doctor pulls off the upset and avoids the sting of skorpios.
Last year's runner-up officially advances to the quarterfinals.
And to zach lytle and skorpios,
who took out tombstone in the qualifier this year,
congratulations on a season to remember.
What a night!
Experience reigns supreme,
as all six rookie teams were sent packing it round one.
And seven of the top eight seeds
are still alive going into the round of 16.
Can't wait to see the next chapter.
We'll see you next time here on battlebots for the round of 16.
Think you have what it takes to be the next battlebots world champion?
Go to discovery.Com/battlebots
and find out how to join in on the action.