BattleBots (2015–…): Season 6, Episode 2 - I Like Big Bots (That Will Not Die) - full transcript

Robots, activate.

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.

Hey, everybody,

and welcome once again
to week two of battlebots,

the only sport actively precipitating
the eventual robot takeover.

Hi, everyone, I'm chris
rose, joined by ufc legend,

master of cage and screen.

The number one ranked robot
fighting analyst in the world,

because of course
there is only one.

Say hello to kenny florian!

That's right, chris. It's like we've
got a room full of terminators,



but sarah connor
has the controls.

And speaking of
terminators, kenny,

on deck, we have an
incredible sequel to week one

that some say might actually
be better than the original.

Terminator 2 is better.

Oh, that's a matter of opinion.

Ah, it's definitely better.

Okay, why don't we get
back to the matchups?

Ken, kenny?

It's just undeniably
a better film.

All right. More importantly, we have a
vicious lineup of teams fighting to qualify

for the greatest tournament
this side of judgment day.

Let's take a look
at tonight's fight card.

From the big and
tall department,



we'll see a clash of the titans,

as the nearly
six-foot tall mammoth

squares off against the biggest
horizontal spinner in the competition,

hijinx!

We've also got the moment

that battlebots universe
has been waiting a year for.

It's the return of the
little bot that could,

rusty.

This is the cutest
robot we've ever seen,

and it will not die!

Everyone's favorite junkyard bot

will kick off its sophomore
season against aren hill's

game-changing new flipper,

blip.

And it all leads
up to a main event

that could potentially be a
preview of this year's championship.

We'll see bloodsport

trying to carve up last
season's runner up,

whiplash!

That's right, it's one
of the hardest hitting bots...

whoa!

Against one of
the best drivers in the world.

And after falling just short
of the giant nut last season,

matt vasquez tells us

he has unfinished
business to attend to.

But we're kicking the night off

with a matchup between a
couple of 250-pound monster trucks.

Greg gibson

and the legendary yeti
are back out of retirement

and ready to
rumble with the man,

the myth, the maniac,

martin mason
and the gritty, kitty,

madcatter.

You guys ready?

I think they're ready.

Faruq, take it away!

Ladies and gentlemen,

are you ready?

It's robot fighting time!

In the red square,

he's got his game face on.

He's armed and ready.

Enemy's knees weak,
their palms are sweaty.

There's vomit on their
controller already, bot spaghetti.

You only get one shot to die

at the hands of the yeti!

Yeti is back,

but this bot looks
like it's been on a diet.

To bring yeti out of retirement,

greg gibson teamed up
with battlebox veteran

christian carlberg,

and together they made some

big changes for
its comeback tour.

Yeah, you can really see
the christian carlberg influence here.

Yeti is now about
20% more compact,

still 250 pounds,

just crammed into
a smaller package.

But they've also had
major power upgrades

so that 40-pound drum

can now actually hit
about 25% harder.

In the blue square,

alice and the queen
can paint roses red.

This cat's got one job,

to make robots dead.

He's traveled to the battlebox
through looking glasses,

but the one thing
he's not through with,

kicking your asses.

It's the metal survivor
with the lunatic driver,

madcatter!

Yeah!

Ooh, here they come.

Martin mason,

he's like if "macho man"
randy savage had a master's

in mechanical
engineering, kenny.

He's a wild
man. Look at him.

And I think one reason
martin is so excited

is this new 48-pound weapon.

It's the most powerful vertical
spinner madcatter has ever had.

Looking for them to
test that early and often

against yeti.

We're about to fight yeti,

they've got an
experienced build team,

they've got a solid driver,

but you know what?
We're going to go in there.

We're going to spin faster.

We're going to drive faster.

We're going to be
more aggressive.

We're just going to be more!

They're likely going to
be running a vertical disc.

They're... They're
fast. They're agile.

I think we'll probably be pretty evenly
matched on on the weapon to weapon.

So I think it's going to
come down to driving.

Win or lose, it's going to be
very hard to... To knock us out.

So if this can turn into a
bar brawl, I like our chances.

Yeah.

Robots, activate.

A reminder
that the new 16x8-foot

upper deck has reshaped
the geometry of the battlebox.

It's created potentially
deadly short corners,

and launching an opponent up there is
a fresh new way to impress the judges.

It can create more
contact and potentially

more knockouts this season.

For more on this
fight and in particular,

madcatter's opponent,

our bot whisperer,
pete, what do you have?

Gentlemen, I am
predicting a deep run for yeti.

- Hmm.
- Putting that out there right now.

Bringing in christian carlberg

and his genius ability to take

ten pounds of electronics
and fit it into a five-pound bag,

he is going to take yeti,

which still is the same dna,

and take it further
with this new version.

You heard it here first.

Maybe.

Well, we are in vegas.

Anybody know if the casinos are
taking bets on robot combat yet?

Red team, ready?

- Mash it.
- Mash it.

Blue team, ready?

That's madcatter's, calvin
iba, standing next to martin mason,

led them to a 3-0
start last season.

Let the bot battle begin.

Robots doing a little
tango here to start.

Yeti on the attack, but madcatter
gets the low ground out of the gate.

Yeti says, "I don't care.
I'm just here to smash!"

this is greg gibson's first time

in the box with the
new version of yeti.

Oh!

Well, it can still pack
the punch. My goodness!

And how about yeti looking
like an olympic gymnast there?

Well, I'll tell you what,
this is exactly what yeti used to do.

They would drive on top of
your opponents and smash.

Oh! Oh!
That's a big one.

It's just amazing to
see a 250-pound bot fly in the air.

- My goodness.
- And you got to keep an eye on yeti's weapon.

It is not spinning right now.

Oh, gosh! uh-oh.

There goes one of those
tires. That's not good for yeti.

No, that is not
a positive development,

as madcatter hanging back now,

looking to see if yeti
had waved that white flag.

No, I think martin mason
knows who he is dealing with.

We've seen yeti come back

from the dead in
previous seasons.

Can it do it here against a
devastating bot madcatter, though?

This is a whole different beast.

And you might be thinking,

"well, if its drum spinner isn't working,
it only has three wheels, why keep going?"

well, just in case

something fails on its opponent.

Spot on, chris.

This is what yeti
is designed to do.

Be durable, stick and fight,

and be hard to kill. Madcatter
can't mess around here. Oh!

That shot has had yeti
guts flying all across the battlebox.

Madcatter keeping
the pressure on.

Can yeti resurrect itself?

Or is it night, night time?

Madcatter is picking yeti apart, literally,
and I think that's going to be it.

Seven...

the countdown is on.

Greg gibson and christian
carlberg in disbelief.

That's a
knockout win! Madcatter.

Martin mason gets the job done!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Kenny, you gotta
love the way this fight started.

Both bots were on the attack.

Unless the way
that both of these bots

matched up, you knew that
one was going to get finished.

These guys are so aggressive.

There's so much power

in both of these bots.

And dare I say that madcatter

out-yeti'd yeti.

We'll give a ton of
credit to yeti for sticking around.

It looks like they
lost the belt early on

and eventually lost that wheel,

but just too much
destructive power

from martin mason
and his entire crew.

I think martin mason
knows who he's dealing with.

It may take team yeti

a fight or two to get their sea
legs with this new version of the bot,

but the first step is to rebuild

after this undressing
by madcatter.

Martin mason,
on a scale of one to ten,

how pumped are you right now?

Let me tell you what. The
scale right now goes to 11!

Oh, yeah!

Martin, martin, take us
through that fight, man.

You know what?

This was a little
bit strategic for us.

You saw us both
go at each other.

But you know what? We wanted to
make sure the box is a little bit smaller.

Calvin made a little twist

that let us get to full speed.

You know what? And
from there, we had it.

Let me tell you what, folks?

They come from the alpine,

but we brought the al-pain!

Oh, yeah!

Martin, is a giant nut
in this team's future?

Let me tell you what's
going to happen.

We're going to claw our way
up through this competition,

one step at a time,
until we get to the top.

Martin mason, team
madcatter, congratulations.

Whoo! Yeah! Yeah! Whoo!

So madcatter comes
out foaming at the mouth

and starts its
season off with a win,

while yeti gets put on
ice in its return to action.

We are just getting
started with a fight card

chock-full of heavy hitters.

Up next, a battlebots'
rookie makes its debut,

as jason vasquez's defender

throws down with the most
furious frog on the planet,

ribbot!

Don't go anywhere.

We continue on
here on battlebots.

In tonight's main event,

we'll see whiplash and captain
matty vasquez enter the arena.

But right now, it's all
about younger bro, jason,

as he makes his battlebots debut

against david jin and
his fearsome frog, ribbot.

Jason's been a critical part of
team whiplash over the years,

helping that robot make it all the way to
the championship match just last season.

And while we've always
seen the older brother,

matt vasquez, with
the controller in hand,

jason has been building
and fighting robots

for nearly the same
amount of time.

And this season, he finally
decided to spread his wings

and become the captain
of his own robot, defender.

That's right. Listen,
he wanted more action.

- Yep.
- He's a tremendous driver in his own right,

but it really takes some cojones to
step away from a title contender, chris.

Not to mention,

building the type
of robot jason did,

defender is a
defensive control bot,

which is a risky design in
a damaged-based sport.

Tonight's going to be a big
first test for the 19-year-old

against an incredibly
dangerous vertical spinner.

That's right, his
opponent tonight is ribbot,

led by david jin,

and what a remarkable
run they had in 2020,

all the way to
the quarterfinals.

Can they repeat that and
even better their finish this year?

They always surprise
us every single season.

They're a tremendous team,

and they've matured,
50% of their team are

still at wpi, 50% are out in
the real world with real jobs.

He said building this new bot

was very difficult
because of that situation,

but they like to
be underestimated.

So don't be surprised if they go
out there and have a tremendous bot.

By the way, is this
a real job or no?

- Yeah, of course it is.
- It is?

- Of course, it is, yes.
- Oh, it's not that tough.

Faruq, take it away.

In the red square,

from thousand oaks, california,

the bot from to
that'll deliver a ko,

it's defender!

Whoo!

For the first time ever,

jason vasquez walks
out as the team captain,

has the support
of the entire family.

Mom and pops are there.

Rob masek, formerly of bite
force is on the team too, kenny.

This robot has a better
pedigree than a quarterback

in the manning family.

Yeah, and defender
has huge front forks.

It'll try to use those
to scoop up ribbot

and then clamp down with
that big arm in the middle.

Jason's going to
need to ram ribbot

into the screws and get
it onto the upper deck

to score points.

In the blue square,

from worcester, massachusetts,

the only frog that'll
make you croak,

it's ribbot!

Team ribbot,

last year, a defining win in the
round of 16 against uppercut.

Let's see if this team

has the ability to take
another step, kenny.

Yeah, going with
the vertical disc for this fight,

but they did switch to brushless
weapon motors during the offseason.

That's what uppercut uses.

They have a much greater
power to weight ratio,

but they're less reliable.

So this upgrade is a bit of a
gamble, but we are in vegas.

I'm feeling pretty confident
about this first fight.

We got a pretty good matchup.

I think our ground game is
a little bit better than them.

So hopefully we can
just control the match

and keep them in the
air and run them into stuff.

It's a little weird being
separated from my brother,

but I think it's for the best,

and it's giving me room to grow.

And I fought before and
I'm ready to fight again.

For our fight against defender,

we decided to go with
our vertical spinner

because we believe
that our wedgelets

will be able to
get under theirs.

Whereas if we ran
the undercutter,

we'd have to beat
their giant plough.

And we took a look
at it before the match.

And that thing is
built really well,

and we have no confidence
that we'll be able to get through it.

We're super excited to take on

a legendary family
in combat robotics.

The vasquezes are one
of the founding families

of this entire sport,

and it's a huge honor for us to get
the chance to fight them in the box.

Robots, activate.

Kenny, what else
do you have on defender?

Get this. Jason
vasquez has six different

things to control on his remote,

their movement
in each direction,

the lifter arm,
the self-righter,

the flamethrower,

freakin' gen z kids need
constant stimulation, chris.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Jason vasquez takes his
first step as a battlebox captain.

Let the bot battle begin!

- Oh!
- Defender on the offensive out of the gate.

He's got ribbot backed
up into the upper deck.

Oh, man!

Ribbot grinding away
with that vertical spinner,

but jason vasquez
keeping it at bay.

Now, those forks
are getting underneath ribbot

- and taking away their...
- oh!

Defender is
shedding some metal there,

and now going head on
with ribbot. Again! Oh, no!

Look at that fork on the rookie,

bent backwards now. Ouch!

Yeah, it sure is.

Defender having
trouble with that grab.

Oh! Great
hit by ribbot.

Oh!

Ribbot has got
defender on its head,

and that frog looks angry,

backing it down
into the corner now.

Defender in
big trouble here, chris.

They are seeing stars.

Back off, back off, back off.

Can defender work its way off?

Look at that demonic
crowd waving goodbye

as that countdown
has officially started.

Ribbot's going to kick their
season off with a victory.

That's a
knockout. Winner, ribbot.

Kenny, its name is defender,

but jason vasquez's bot

came out on the offensive
to start off the fight.

It sure did, and those
forks on the front of defender

did their job and got
underneath ribbot to start.

It looked like defender was
going to keep ribbot on the outside,

but eventually david
jin found an opening,

he capitalized and absolutely
destroyed the rookie.

So, ribbot
leaps out to a 1-0 start,

leaving the 19-year-old
jason vasquez

in search of his first
career win as a captain.

Up next, we've got a
battle of the behemoths,

as mammoth is taking on hijinx.

And later tonight,

it's the return of
rusty and dave eaton,

who in his rookie season took
the battlebots world by storm.

That bot is tough.

The return of rusty for revenge.

We are back on battlebots. And up
next, are you ready for some excitement?

Well, you better be

because ricky willems

is moments away from
marching mammoth,

the biggest robot
in the competition

back into the box.

Now, everybody loves a
unique design here at battlebots,

but builders like ricky
aren't breaking the mold

just to put on a show.

I think most people want
to see something exciting,

and they want to see
something unpredictable.

And the weirder
your robot design is,

the more you dial
that up to a left.

Now you look at this bot, it's
unlike anything we've ever seen before.

I think it's awesome to try to
bring about change in the field

by building something special.

A lot of people try to step
outside the boundaries

because they want to find
a hole in the competition.

They want to find
a way they can win,

the robots haven't
figured out yet.

Unbelievable! What a
shot by smeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You're starting to see a lot
of new designs coming in.

They're pretty unique like blip.

Switchback is pretty neat.

Fusion is way up there for me

not only be a vertical

and a horizontal robot.

I mean, those are
tough things to pull off.

It's the first of its
kind in battlebots' history.

Oh!

Fusion rips a
chunk outta madcatter,

going right into the cat's meow.

On the one hand,
we have a lot of new designs

coming out in battlebots,

but on the other hand,
the competitive "metagame"

is getting more and more
narrow as time goes along.

I mean, it's really focusing
down on four-wheel drive,

vertical spinners with
wedgelets at the front.

Trouble for them
is, is it more narrow

that... That metal becomes,

the easier it is for someone
to come along and disrupt it.

Oh! Look at that shot.

Bite force has to be careful.

We know huge has
knock-out ability.

A lot of the robots here are all

based on getting under somebody.

If they get under you, they win.

If they don't get
under you, they lose.

It's hard to beat them
at their own game,

but they're not going to see
it coming if I try something

they have no experience with.

Mammoth on the attack.

And landed another
blow. How about mammoth?

Oh, my goodness!

Wow!

There's more people
coming who you won't see

until they're there.

It's a type of robot
darwinism that's going on.

They're evolving
based on what they see.

The robot that
won last year or this year

may not be the design
that wins next year.

It's going to be something that

catches everybody off guard.

I know we're going to see that.

That's going to happen
in battlebots near future,

and we're not going to be
able to know until it comes along

and surprises us
all in the battlebots.

Whoa-ho!
Look at that move!

- Whoa!
- This fight was ridiculous.

We let the meta do
what it does for other people,

but we always need to stay here

and kind of stake
our claim in it

that if you sleep on us,
we're going to wreck you.

They say fortune
favors the bold, kenny,

and ricky willems is
clearly one of the boldest.

Absolutely. He's so
passionate about what he does,

and, you know, his robot is
so unique, it's so unorthodox

and he's going against hijinx,

the largest horizontal
spinner in the competition.

We've got ourselves a real
clash of the titans here, chris.

You ready for some
fun and some energy?

Let's take you inside
the box. But first,

our man, faruq.

In the red square,

from oakland, california,

this '80s themed robot
will leave you pretty instinct.

It's hijinx!

Hijinx's one
of three rookie bots

to make the
tournament last year,

captained by jen herchenroeder.

Kenny, it's deadly,

but this might be the most
beautiful bot in the competition.

Sorry about that hyper shot.

Yeah, and jen was an art major

at the university of maryland,

so no surprise there.

And on the inside,
it's an entirely new bot.

Everything, including
the speed controller,

has been upgraded
so that 68-pound blade

can now hit its top speed
in less than five seconds.

In the blue square,

from baltimore, maryland,

the prehistoric bully

that is as bad as it is wooly,

it's mammoth.

Watch out, pardon me,
excuse me, big boy coming through.

Mammoth had that epic

upset over copperhead
in the tournament last year,

but ricky's bot is looking
a little different now,

kenny. Don't you think?

Yeah, it went
from 6'4 " to 5'6" this season.

Still about the height of your
typical refrigerator, though,

and that weapon
is certainly different.

It's made of
high-density plastic,

that same stuff huge's
wheels are made from,

which should bend but
not break against hijinx.

We're facing hijinx tonight.

What I think they're going
to do is go after our wheels.

It's up to me as a driver

to make sure that
they cannot do that.

I never learned my lesson here.

And again, the robot
is completely different.

The biggest thing is
we've got this new weapon.

I'm super excited
for hijinx to fight it.

It's floppy in this direction.

They can keep
hitting it and it just

springs out of the way.

But it's strong in the other
direction and we can throw them out.

Mammoth is a very
large, vertical flip spinner.

The very shape of
our armor is sloped

upward on front and back

that makes it much more
difficult for a vertical spinner

to get a good purchase
under the robot

to find a place to lift.

They're more likely to
hit the front of the armor

and be deflected off.

Mammoth is huge,

but they beat huge.

So we have to take
the fight very seriously.

Robots, activate.

Kenny, hijinx
looking kind of vicious.

Jen said that
thing is built like a tank,

and they are
incredibly confident

in the skills of driver/designer

orion beach, with the
controller in his hands, chris.

And another big
upgrade from mammoth,

they've gone from one
weapon chain to two.

Last season, that single chain
left them awfully vulnerable,

but now they're twice as nice,

or as we like to
say, two chains.

And I think you want
the weapon here

- before we make contact.
- Yes.

Let the bot battle begin.

Mammoth with a fox rush,

trying to prevent
hijinx with spin it up.

Hijinx retreats,

looking for some space.

Oh!

Mammoth is all over hijinx here,
impressive mobility from that giant bot.

Now, bullying
hijinx into that short corner.

Hijinx pushing back,
the bots locking horns,

preventing one another
from spinning up.

We got a good
old-fashioned standoff here.

Hijinx has to find a way
to get out of that corner, chris.

Now, we've got some
movement from these two spinners.

Oh!

Mammoth puts
hijinx into the screws.

Uh-oh.
They lost a wheel.

Oh, my gosh!

And hijinx only has two of them.

Yeah!

Now, listen to ricky willems.

- You want another hit?
- Wow!

Hijinx's blade is
still in the game, ,

but here comes the countdown.

Eight, seven, six...

their driver, orion
beach, having some kind of

movement and, oh!

Three, two, one. That's
a knockout. Winner is mammoth.

He cannot.

Ricky willes and mammoth out
of the box in a hurry here in 2021!

Kenny, mammoth
just did an amazing job

being on top of its
opponent all fight long.

Absolutely.
Mammoth used its size

to back hijinx into one
of the new short corners

created by the upper deck,

and it used that corner

to help it do its dirty work.

That strike right
there flipped hijinx.

It lost one of its two wheels,

and that was game over.

Mammoth is going to be
fun to watch this season.

- Huh!
- Ricky.

Are you okay, buddy?

No. Well, I mean,

I guess I'm better than them.

- You're just digging yourself deeper, buddy.
- I... I know, I...

It's been a long,
long road to get here.

We've screwed it up last night.

We built the robot up twice,

including last
night and midnight.

It's amazing just
to get in the box

and the fact that we survived.

I'm still on edge.
I'm still shaking.

With... With all that that happened, what
does this do for your morale as a team,

knowing that you can deal
with this kind of adversity?

Oh, it... I mean, it just

galvanizes my faith

in everybody on this team.
They've all worked so hard

and just put in the
hours and the effort

and the, the heart,

and I'm just so
thrilled, a third year

with a win in our first fight.

Congratulations, ricky
willems and team mammoth.

Okay, folks,

team mammoth kicks off another
season with a record of 1-0.

Are they primed
to make a deep run

this year with that weird
and wonderful robot?

Coming up, the crusher
bot from the deep,

kraken will try
and sink its teeth

into the always
hard-to-kill, rotator.

And don't forget about tonight's

blockbuster main event,

where the tri-bar terror,

bloodsport, will square off
with last season's runner-up,

whiplash.

Its driver, matty vasquez,

he's a man on a mission.

I have never actually said that

this will be our
year to win the nut.

This season, I think it
is our year to win the nut.

We are back on
battlebots, and up next,

a fight you can
definitely sink your

teeth into, because kraken

is going to try and take a
bite out of one of the most

kinetic bots here, rotator.

But let's start
with the sea monster.

Captained by matt
spurk, and I love it.

The entire family,

they get dressed up
in the pirates garb.

They get into it, and
kraken with that crusher,

big-time devastation.

This year, they've
upped the ante.

Yeah, that's right. It's even

more powerful this season.

And, you know, I was really

impressed with the advancements

that they had in their
robot last season.

They didn't
have the best record,

but I thought they
were always exciting.

They were aggressive.

I thought they were
one of those candidates

for most improved bot.

So I'm excited to
see what they've got.

And it'll be facing
off against rotator

and victor soto,
one of the smartest

guys working back in the pits.

Last season,

it ended in the round of 16,

lost a split decision
to the eventual

champion, end
game. And he said

he talked to nick mabey
and jack barker of end game

afterward and they said,

"hey, look at all the
damage you did to our robot,

here and here and
here." and victor was like,

"wait a second, if I
did so much damage,

why did I lose the fight
and went home early?"

listen, victor, I
think, is a team

to watch with rotator.
There's no question about it.

And I kind of feel like
he's due for a breakthrough.

- Yeah.
- Because he's always been

right there on the cusp.

Last year, rotator took
down legendary bot

bronco in the championship match

of their bounty tournament.

But one thing
victor's never done

is win his first
fight of the season.

Kraken is a tough bot to kill.

So could a win tonight be
a sign of things to come?

Let's see.

Two parts of the florida bot

mafia ready to square off

inside the box.
Faruq, take it away.

In the red square,

crack is whack,

that's where we should begin.

But this team
will crack a bottle

when they celebrate their win.

This bot has giant metal teeth

that can break you in two.

So if you ask him
what's cracking,

it's probably you.

Give it up for kraken!

That is so cute.

The whole family
is back this season.

The kraken really earned
its stripes last season,

kenny, going three minutes with

black dragon, with
witch doctor with huge

and with sawblaze. What a run!

Yeah, this bot is
as tough as they come, chris.

Kraken's teeth are
even stronger this year,

and you can see
they've gone from a

rounded shape
to more of a blade,

and matthew spurk told us

he's not afraid to
sink those daggers

straight into rotator,

even if it's running
it's blade on top.

In the blue square,

this bot has a rap sheet,

a record. He's criminal.

You're a goner, is his message.

It's overt

and it's subliminal.

He'll leave you with wounds

and he'll leave you with scars.

So just pray that these rhymes

put him behind bars.

It's rotator!

Always love to see the get-up

with victor soto and rotator,

so flashy that
they can definitely

back it up, kenny.

Yeah, it's durable
and destructive, chris,

and we talked about
the brushless weapon

motors ribbot switched to.

Well, rotator did the
same thing this offseason,

so more power for less weight.

We'll see what that
does to what was already

one of the baddest bots here.

Kraken is a very tough robot,

and I hear now that
they're even more powerful

in terms of crushing force.
We're going to actually

try to use the sport designs
that we've had in the past,

but we've optimized them

so we can actually

use them to full
efficiency, full potential

and push other robots around.

So I expect this to be a

three-minute match, but
we're going to try to sink kraken.

We've increased
the crushing power

from 60,000 pounds last year

to over 100,000 pounds of force.

That's kind of like having

a humpback whale sitting
on the front of kraken's mouth.

We've been scouting
videos for rotator.

We think he's going to run his

bar spinner on the
top to try and protect...

Protect him from the
teeth coming down.

The great thing
about kraken is just

always the same strategy.

Attack as fast as possible,

blade as many times as possible,

and as soon as you
get a hold of him,

light the fire.

Robots, activate.

Red team, ready?

Blue team, ready?

Winner, winner...
Golden spinner.

Whoo!

That's victor's wife, bianca.

The first time she's joined
him here at battlebots.

Let's see if she brings
him some good luck tonight.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Let the bot battle begin.

Oh, yeah, kraken trying
to go in for that first bite,

almost takes out
its own narwhal.

Rotator fires a warning shot.

Oh, and another. That
horizontal blade of rotator,

it's so dangerous.

Oh!

Oh! Trying
to bite, he's got it.

Kraken has rotator in its jaws,

and now it bursts into flames.

There's fire pouring out of
the top of matthew spurk's bot!

Ooh!

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

If you've never seen
a mechanical sea monster

at fire before, "hey,
welcome to battlebots!"

kraken though not
showing any signs of

letting go of rotator, kenny.

What's going on?

No, but kraken
just has to hold that fire,

doesn't fry anything
vital inside the bot.

Okay, now, per the rulebook,

kraken will have to release
rotator after 30 seconds.

- You got to start releasing him.
- He's... He's

released it, the jaw
is open either way.

You got to start releasing him.

The ref is issuing a warning,

but I'm not so sure
that matt spurk can get

kraken to shake rotator loose.

Yeah, he looks
pretty stuck on there.

You got to release
him, you got to release him.

He's already released. He's stuck
in the lower teeth or stuck in the tire.

- You can't pull out, you're stuck?
- Wow!

All right.
Timeout, timeout, timeout.

We are just over
a minute in here, folks.

Timeout,
guys. Time. Time.

Everybody put their
transmitters down.

Here's what's happened.
We officially have a stoppage

of this match.

Kenny, you're going to have
to clean this up. Dial us in here.

Well, chris, the crew bots

are going to try
to dislodge rotator.

According to the rulebook,

if they can't
separate these two,

this is going to the judges,

and rotator cannot
afford for that to happen.

Unstick.
Unstick. Unstick.

All right, we're going to
take a break, but something tells me,

carnage awaits
on the other side.

The fate of these bots will
be decided when we return

on battlebots.

Welcome back to
battlebots, where before the break,

we saw rotator and
kraken become entangled

a little over a
minute into their fight.

The referee had
to stop the match

and let the crew bots
try to separate these two.

Now, this would have
gone to the judges

if the robots couldn't
be pulled apart,

but the fans, they're in luck

because the carnage is
about to re-commence.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

And as soon as these
drivers hear the buzzer, it is go time.

Rotator has got
some work to do here, chris.

Let the bot battle, uh, resume.

Uh-oh.

Oh!

Oh! Rotator rips the
teeth right out of kraken's grill.

That's not good,
took two in one shot.

Whoa!

Now, remember,
kraken was in control

of this match before
the entanglement.

You are now looking
at a desperate

victor soto and rotator here,

and maybe a desperate
match for kraken

after losing those teeth.

That left wheel on kraken
hanging out for dear life now.

Rotator continuing
its all-out assault.

Brilliant driving
there for victor soto.

Oh! There
goes the tire.

Oh, he is
dissecting kraken right now.

Kraken toothless,

limping out on one wheel

and gasping for air here in
the final minute of this fight.

Can rotator finish the job now?

Rotator has been
great here after the restart,

but if you're victor
soto, you do not

want this going to the judges.

He has an abysmal record
when it comes to decisions.

And kraken showing just enough

movement to hold
off a countdown.

Oh!

I felt that

in my stomach. That's how

powerful that hit was.

That is kraken
guts all over the place.

- Wow!
- But somehow matt spurk is

still squirming his way
around the battlebox.

Yeah, the durability
of kraken is just insane.

Oh! Oh, my gosh.

What hasn't rotator cut
up? That's what I want to know.

How is kraken still
moving out there?

This is unbelievable.

Kraken is refusing to die

as the final seconds tick away.

Rotator leaving it
all out on the floor.

But this one will be decided
by the panel of judges.

And that group
includes derek young,

lisa winter and jason bardis,

the three former
battlebots participants

will be scoring on
an 11-point system.

Five points can be
awarded for damage,

three for aggression
and three for control.

Bro.

Whoa!

Holy... Shenanigans!

Yeah, what he said.

Kenny, kraken
was hungry to start

this match and sunk its
teeth deep into rotator,

but after a quick stoppage
in play to untangle the robots,

this one actually
turned in rotator's favor.

Yeah, it's amazing

how rotator was
able to adapt, and

this was the technique
of the match right there.

They've kind of beat
their tail with those forks.

They jam up kraken,

one quick spin, and in one shot

they took out two teeth.

So they went after the

ivories and then they
went after the tires,

and kraken was pretty
much doomed at that point.

That's right.
Hard to do any damage

after your primary
weapon was taken out,

and that's the
one I felt in my gut.

That shot was just brutal there.

What a performance
there from rotator.

Here's faruq with the decision.

The results from
the judges are in.

The winner by
unanimous decision is...

Rotator!

Victor soto?

Hey, victor?

Hello, chris.

How cool is it when you get
to dismantle your opponent

piece by piece by piece?

I really didn't expect that.

My strategy was actually to try to
stay away from the mouth of kraken

because I didn't
really think we could

really pierce that.

So I was trying to get
a little bit of control.

I was, I wasn't really getting
there, and we got stuck.

Oh, man, I just
didn't expect it at all.

And we finally won
our first match ever.

Whoo!

Of the season. Of the season.

Of the season. We've never
won our first match of the season.

My wife brought good luck.

Yes. Isn't it nice
having your wife here

- for the first time ever as well?
- Yes.

Yes. Yes.

Yeah. You
better say yes.

There you go. Victor,
congratulations.

- Thank you.
- To your team rotator.

Thank you.

So rotator comes out on
the right side of the judges' decision,

while kraken again goes three

full minutes in what ended up

being a blood bath of a battle.

That thing just will not die.

Up next, it's a bot
who last season

won over the
hearts of the crowd,

the competitors and pretty
much anyone on the planet

who's interested
in combat robotics.

That's right. We'll see
the little bot that could,

rusty,

when we return on battlebots.

We are back on battlebots, and

do you know who's back?

You see who's getting
ready to come to the box?

I do. I'm very excited.

It's a fan-favorite,

rusty is here!

And he's going
to be facing a fancy new

rookie bot named blip.

But listen to those chants

for the little bot
that could, kenny.

Rusty! Rusty! Rusty!

Wow!

Coming up, a
rookie of the year season,

dave eaton. What
a remarkable story!

Found a bunch of junk on
his parents' farm in illinois.

His word about
the junk, not mine.

And he just won over the crowd.

- Yeah.
- It wasn't like he had this

miraculous season
inside the box,

but there's just something about

dave and this robot
you can't help but love.

I mean, look at him eating,
popcorn out of rusty's helmet.

They're like turner & hooch,

scooby and shaggy...

Han and chewie. Insert your
favorite best buddy duo here.

Exactly. Very
sentimental about rusty.

I think everybody
loves rusty, right?

It's that combination
of homeliness

and heart that makes
you just want to

root for this robot.

But rusty can really
take a hit too, chris.

He went the full three
minutes with sawblaze,

something no one
thought he'd be able to do.

But he's never
fought a true flipper

like the one he's about to.

So will he be able to take that kind
of punishment in tonight's matchup?

That's a good question,

because on the opposite end
of the technology spectrum,

we have aren hill's
new flipper bot, blip.

Aren, of course, made a run
all the way to the semifinals

with tantrum last season,

and while he's still
helping his old team,

this year, he's got
a brand-new bot

that uses a weapon technology

that we have never seen before.

That's right.
Blip is a flywheel flipper,

and this is an
oversimplification,

but it kind of works
like a medieval

weapon called a trebuchet.

Inside blip, there's a
metal wheel that rapidly

twists a synthetic rope.

As it twists, it gets shorter.

Now where a trebuchet's arm

fires when it's pulled
by a counterweight,

blip's flipper

fires when it's pulled
by that shortening rope.

It's worked in testing,
but we've seen

plenty of new designs
struggle in their maiden voyage

inside the box, and rusty

is a tough bot to kill.

So don't underestimate
the challenge here for blip.

Should be a ton of
fun. Faruq, take it away.

In the red square,

experts doubted
this bot last year,

they called him a junker.

Now he's a star and
all the hot single bots

are asking for his number.

Tmz keeps hounding him with

questions 'cause
they're curious,

like, "hey, over
here, over here.

Is it true you're replacing vin
diesel in fast and the furious?"

signing autographs
and taking selfies

is the embodiment of greatness,

and everyone back
on the farm is like,

"don't forget us
when you're famous."

give it up for rusty!

Oh, the one-man
working crew, rusty.

He's got a construction
cone on his beak.

Really?

Oh, I love it.

Rusty running with the hammer
configuration under that cone,

but dave eaton really tries to
win fights by surviving them,

and rusty is as tough
as they come, chris.

Duct tape is a nice
touch to this, too.

In the blue square,

when he clears you for
takeoff, get ready to fly.

He'll send you on a trip

through the unfriendly skies.

The flight's a bit bumpy,
but the landing is a calamity.

When you go kaboom,
like the hindenburg.

Oh, the bot-manity!

It's blip!

There is the
beautifully compact blip.

Again, captain aren
hill had tantrum within

two wins from the
giant nut last season.

But, like you said,
kenny, first fights

for brand-new bots
can be a total tossup,

no matter who the captain is.

Yeah, I don't think
blip will have any trouble

getting under
rusty, but will that

flywheel flipper actually work

and will it be able to do enough

damage to a
250-pound robot, chris?

Time to find out.

I'm leading out blip this
year. It's a flywheel flipper,

which gives us a lot
of fun advantages over

traditional flippers.

Its armor is on par with tantrum

and maneuverability, et cetera,

but the flipper power is on par
with hydra and some of the other...

Other big boy flippers.

Blip's first fight
is against rusty.

You can't get any more
endearing than rusty.

Rusty has usually been someone
who just keeps on tanking.

So being able to make
sure we can last the full

three minutes and not
have any issues ourselves,

this is going to be
key, but we're hoping to

send rusty flying a few times.

They're a well...
Well-established team

and everything, right? And
he builds really good robots.

He's got his new kinetic

system for the flipper
and stuff, so he...

It'll be interesting to see how that
works and how well it flips the robot.

If I'm not blowing
him around the box

and if he's blowing
me around the box,

I know who's going to
win, who's going to lose.

I am a little more concerned
this time going around.

Obviously, there's more expectation
for me being a second year.

I'm propping as much as I can for
this fight because I need to win it.

Hell yeah.

Robots, activate.

Kenny, with
rusty, it is so cute.

I just want to run up to him
and pinch its little cheeks.

I think everybody's
back at the pits to sign that thing.

It's got plenty of
duct tape as well.

Red team, ready?

Yeah!

Blue team, ready?

Ah, look at aren
hill, he's already apologizing

- to rusty.
- Pre-snap. That's funny.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

It's the high-tech rook versus

the junkyard vet.

Rusty, blip,

who's it going to be?

Let the bot battle begin.

Blip trying to get its bearing
straight, circles around rusty,

getting under rusty. Whoa!

Whoa! Great height,
great distance.

That was definitely
a nine out of ten.

Rusty pops back though,

tracking the junkyard bot again.

Oh!

Can rusty fix itself?

Come on, rusty.

He didn't stick the landing.

I'm going to give rusty
a 3.0 on that one, chris.

Yep, yep, yep.
Judge really deducted points.

I don't know if blip is
trying to help rusty get up

or what.

Whoa! Right, there we go.

All right.

Uh-oh. Rusty,
your clothes are falling off.

Oh, god! Can we get
him a towel or something?

We're going to
have to blur this out.

It's very revealing.

Rusty, stab him.
Rusty, stab him.

Aren hill is playing
with his food now.

Rusty, totally shell-shocked

and without a shell.

Is this the end for
the junkyard bot?

Ten, nine...

yeah, rusty is not moving.

- Yeah.
- This is it. Blip gest win number one.

One!
That's a knockout.

Man.

I knew it was gonna
be a rough one.

Well, we knew it was going
to be a long shot for rusty, kenny.

Oh, jeez!
Speaking of long shot,

my goodness, so
quick and so powerful.

Rusty was hanging
in there, though.

Yeah. Was able
to self-right after that

first big shot, but, man, you get in
the short corner next to the upper deck,

it's tough. And then here
he comes, right at you, folks.

- Oh!
- And the pulverizer, jeez.

- Exactly.
- Two for one deal.

Yeah.

Aren hill.

Hi, aren. -Hi, guys.

So we saw you mouthed
the words right before

the fight started,
"I'm sorry, rusty."

- do you, do you feel bad?
- We do feel bad.

I love rusty,

but I am beyond stoked.

First match out, new robot,

working exactly
like we want it to.

Aren, you guys made it
all the way to the semifinals

a season ago with tantrum.

You decided to branch off and
start a new season with a flipper bot.

Can you make a judgment
after just a minute inside the box

as to how potent
your robot can be?

Yeah, I don't, I don't see any
reason why we make it just this far.

So you're calling
your shot right now

at least a semifinal
appearance with a rookie robot?

That's the goal.

Impressive. I
love the confidence.

Aren hill, we'll see you
and team blip down the line.

Thank you, guys.

- Dave?
- It'll bump out.

We can fix it, make
it straight. Hey, guys.

Rusty is naked right now.

Yeah, yeah.

He kind of flew by the seat
of his pants there, didn't he?

Oh, yeah.

Is rusty okay?
Chris has tylenol.

I have some duct tape. If
you need anything, let us know.

I was going to say duct tape and
tylenol is about what I'm going to need.

I need the tylenol. He
needs the duct tape.

Dave, all kidding
aside, what are

the last ten months
been like for you?

I mean, you exploded on the scene.
You become a battlebots cult hero.

I mean, listen to
what the audience,

you come out here, they're
chanting rusty's name.

What the heck is all this like?

Thanks, guys. Thank you.

Rusty! Rusty! Rusty!

Whoo! Oh, you guys
are way too nice to me.

Thank you.

Whoo! I mean, I
know, you know what?

I love this, because at the end of the day,
I'm going to build this beautiful machine.

I get to come out here and be with
you guys. And I love it. I really do.

Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Oh, man.

You guys are so nice to me.

Dave eaton and rusty,
you are one of a kind.

- Thank you.
- We'll see in your next match.

Once again, let's
hear it for rusty!

Thanks, guys. Thank you.

Whoo-hoo!

Well, dave
eaton didn't get the win

inside the battlebox, but he
is a winner in life, no question.

And, kenny, how about blip?

He only had a minute of
game tape, what do you see?

Listen, I saw a bot that
is extremely powerful.

Again, new technology,
we weren't sure

what was going to happen out there,
but the fact that it looked that good

and that sharp, I think it's a
really good sign for team blip.

Up next,

it's the return of the team aren
hill, took to the semifinals last year.

Tantrum.

New captains, alex
grant and ginger schmidt,

will throw down
with bunny sauriol

and malice when we
return on battlebots.

Welcome back to
las vegas and week two

of the battlebots 2021 season.

We've already been
treated to a handful of

robot destruction here tonight,

and the main event of the
evening is just around the corner.

We'll see bloodsport

face off with the 2020
runner-up whiplash.

In fact, here is matt vasquez

moments ago putting the
finishing touches on whiplash.

Remember, he fell just short
of winning the title last year.

Matt tells us he
intends to finish the job

this time around, and
that journey begins tonight.

But right now, we've
got bunny sauriol's

malice taking on a team
that came out of nowhere

to make a run to the
semifinals just last season,

tantrum.

And when you make that
monumental leap, usually you don't

make a lot of
changes to your team.

Unless you are tantrum.

As we just saw,

former captain aren
hill has a new flipper bot,

blip, and it certainly
looks like the real deal.

Now he's still
involved with tantrum,

the two bots are actually sharing
a 16-person crew back in the pits.

But after last
season, aren felt like

tantrum was in
such a good place,

he handed the reins to
new captains, ginger schmidt

and alex grant.

They both admitted they're a
little nervous to be the captain,

but they feel like this is a
giant nut winning bot still.

Yeah, no question about it.

They're kind of like one giant
team that has two bots, right?

But tantrum was just
amazing last season.

They feel they
have a stronger bot.

The ability to not die in combat

is a real superpower,

and that's what
they're all about.

They use their
defense as offense, so

whether they're ramming
themselves into another bot

or getting hit,

they feel that they can destroy
the other bot just by doing that.

And it is a true...

and tonight they
are taking on malice,

captained by bunny sauriol.

Who's just bouncing around
here with a ton of energy,

and she said sometimes

people would rip on
me on the internet

for being too
emotional. She said,

"I'm not going to
change the way I am."

bunny, you do you.

You be exactly who you are.

Now she looked at the matchup

tonight, she said, "yeah,
that thing is a brick over there.

This is not a good
matchup, but it doesn't matter

because we just want
to ram him, face first.

- we're all right with that."
- exactly.

She's here to have a fun time.

She wants to have
great fights. She wants to

hit other bots as
hard as she can,

and malice has one of the biggest
disc spinners in this competition.

But is it big enough

to take down a bot with
an iron chin like tantrum?

Let's see if she
can pull that off.

Faruq, take it away.

In the red square,

this bot packs a punch

like bottomless
mimosas at brunch.

It's tantrum!

And there's the new team tantrum

about to start their own
chapter here at battlebots,

and, boy, can that
bot punch hard.

Yeah, the design of
tantrum is so unique and effective.

Its weapon sits
on a rail system,

so when the disc is pulled back,

it's protected from contact.

But when the time is right,

it can launch forward

to punch its opponent

with 18 pounds of steel

rotating at about 8,500 rpm.

In the blue square,

from san jose, california,

this bunny ain't from energizer,

but when it's time to kill you,

she keeps going

and going

and going.

Give it up for malice!

There is bunny sauriol, the

always excitable
team captain of malice.

How's your bot looking, kenny?

That's what I want to know.

The bot looks great.

One of the biggest
issues they've addressed

coming into this season
is weapon reliability.

Malice was consistently able

to survive three
minutes of punishment,

but it was often after
losing their weapon early.

If they can keep
that disc spinning,

malice is a very dangerous bot.

Malice! Malice! Malice!

Malice has a giant
spinning horizontal weapon

at the front of its robot,

but tantrum has strong armor,

so we're hoping, in the
beginning of the match,

to get at them from
an angle and absorb

the energy from their
disc into our strong armor

and slow them down. And
once their disc is slowed down,

we're going to go around
the sides, around the front

to scoop them up
and deliver a punch.

So tantrum is a big box.

Unfortunately, the only
way that we can actually

deal with tantrum, hit
him as hard as we can,

throw him across the arena.

Our new weapon is
called the rolling blackout,

and you can throw a
tantrum as much as you want,

but you're not going to
beat the rolling blackouts.

Robots, activate.

And, kenny, tell us
about that little bunny tale

that's now on malice's backside?

Last year, they
actually lost a few fights

because they got tipped
up onto their backside

and then couldn't tip back over.

Will tantrum pick up
where they left off last season,

or can malice give
these rookie captains

the welcome to the
big leagues moment?

We'll find out when we return...

On battlebots!

We are back on battlebots,

and we have two teams
in the box ready to rumble.

It's semifinalists
from last season,

tantrum squaring off with
bunny sauriol and malice.

We got this, guys.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Let the bot battle begin.

And tantrum

goes right after malice and
delivers the shot to the beak.

That was a big hit.

You can see it.
Part of their strategy

is certainly to box rush malice.

They don't want that
weapon to get started.

So far so good, kenny.

At the moment, malice's weapon

doesn't look to be moving,

and here's tantrum

firing up that...

and one thing that
really stands out right now

is the speed of tantrum.

They are all over malice.

Tantrum chasing
them around the battlebox.

Malice so slipping away.

David rush,
the driver of malice,

doing an excellent job of
staying squared up to tantrum

ever since that
weapon weighed down.

That is not an easy task

to maneuver a bot
as big as malice.

Tantrum is so
compact and so fast.

And so loud, too,

I mean, listen to that weapon.

It's like a jet engine, kenny.

Kind of reminds me of minotaur.

Yeah. And
you see tantrum

winning that ground game,

getting underneath
malice repeatedly.

Nice little pop by tantrum

to the underbelly of malice.

Under two minutes to
go in this match now.

Malice gritting its
teeth to stay in this fight.

- Oh!
- Oh! What a hit!

What a beautiful
hit done by tantrum.

Tantrum underneath
malice again here

and driving it into the rails,

landing a couple of shots and
now pinning it into the corner.

Malice has been on
the defensive and now...

- uh-oh.
- Uh-oh. Is it stuck, stuck under the rails?

Can they move it all?

Oh, how about tantrum,

they want to keep
the fight going, chris.

Dislodging malice there,
and we are back in business.

But tantrum go
right back after malice

and just alluded the pulverizer.

Tantrum has got malice
pinned yet again in the corner.

- Oh!
- Oh, my goodness!

Tantrum is scoring major
points on the judges' scorecard.

I think they took some
pieces off of malice with those hits, too.

And don't look now,
but for at least a moment,

tantrum's weapon appears
to be no longer working.

Malice, of course,
has been dormant

since the very first
seconds of this fight.

Well, I tell you what, you know,
malice is taking a beating out there,

but I'm impressed
with its durability.

The team has got to figure out
these weapon issues, though.

Hard to win if you
can't do damage.

Forty seconds left to go.

Now it's pretty much
just a pushing match,

as we say, and you
got to credit malice

for stopping tantrum's weapon,

but they still have
a ton of ground

to make up on the scorecards

as tantrum has
been in total control.

Tantrum driving
malice backwards.

Oh! Into the rails
for good measure,

refusing to let up
down the stretch.

Tantrum has been lower,

they've been faster,
they've been better, chris.

Even so, this fight
is going to go the distance

as tantrum, very impressive
in their opening match...

But malice hangs in and

will force a decision
by the judges,

a remarkable feat nonetheless.

Kenny, a huge
head-to-head collision,

and I don't know if that did
something to rolling blackout,

the weapon of malice.

Yeah, well, listen,
tantrum did not want that

devastating weapon
of malice to get fired up,

so they went right at them.

Did a great job of attacking
it, staying aggressive.

And for me, I think

the story really was
the ground game.

What a hit right
there from tantrum,

but they got underneath
malice repeatedly.

So they were not taking
any force out there.

They were able to get
underneath and do the hitting,

the whole fight.

And malice did get
pinned in the corner momentarily,

but tantrum with some
solid sportsmanship

after flipping it, which
wasn't exactly the nice part,

but tantrum did do a nice job

of allowing malice to
get back in this fight,

but malice just
didn't have much.

No, they
didn't. And of course,

we have to
highlight, the driving

of team tantrum as well.

They were just all over him,

so aggressive and so well-built.

Look at that thing.

The results from
the judges are in.

And the winner by
unanimous decision is...

Tantrum!

Whoo! Yeah!

Whoo!

Ginger and alex,

- congratulations on your first win as co-captains.
- Thank you.

Ginger, was it
really that first shot

that kind of set the
tone of this fight?

Yes, coming after last season

where we made it all
the way to the semifinals,

lost to end game, the champions,

there was a lot of
pressure riding on this fight.

Our first fight, there
are high expectations.

We wanted to come out and
have a really strong match

to prove that. Last
year was not a fluke.

Tantrum is strong
and we're ready

to take it all the
way again this year.

So what did you see

from that first shot that
you gave malice, alex?

Uh, we saw a huge hit

and then their weapon
stopped moving.

That was awesome. That's
exactly what we wanted.

Well, we didn't skunk
the match, right?

Like, that was the big thing.
We got our first win. It's huge.

What do you think aren's
going to tell you back in the pits?

He's going to, he's going to
give me a solid pat on the back.

Pat on the back and, you know,

say, "good job," you know,
"make it to the top four

and then talk to me."

nice. Hey, congratulations,
team tantrum.

You are 1-0.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Kenny, tantrum
ain't joking around.

That thing is a solid brick.

Listen, that's why they were
a final four bot last season.

They're even better this season.

I just love the way
that thing is moving,

driving, they're on point.

All right. Coming up,

it's the moment we've
all been waiting for,

tonight's main event.

Back from a runner-up
finish last year

with whiplash being
another March to the final?

Or will bloodsport
and its punishing spin

hand them a second,
devastating loss in a row?

Let's take a closer
look at this matchup.

Oh! Whiplash
right on the attack.

Whiplash!

And here comes whiplash again.

Whiplash!

Whiplash says,
"is that all you got?"

whiplash!

Last season, we got closer

than we have ever gotten
to winning the giant nut.

It is championship time.

And that final match, it
was just so close, yet so far.

- Oh. Whoa!
- Uh-oh!

Can whiplash recover?

I just couldn't pull it out.

- Oh!
- Oh, my gosh! That is it! That is it!

I have never actually said

that this will be our
year to win the nut.

It is our year to win the nut.

But I need to test the robot

as hard as I can
for the tournament.

And I think that bloodsport is a
great opponent to do that with.

It's bloodsport!

Last season, we had one of
the hardest hitting weapons.

Oh!

That may have
been the death blow, chris.

And this year, I think we really
have the chance to go all the way.

We got two new weapon
blades, which are brand-new.

Ar500 blades,

different material,
much stronger,

that should be able to hit
even harder than last year.

Big-time energy release on that.

Bloodsport is definitely
one of the most

deadly horizontal spinners here.

But to beat us, they need
to stay away from me.

They need to get spun up.

Oh, you could really
hear that thing humming.

And I don't think I'm
going to let them do that.

- Whiplash in a...
- oh!

Huge box rush!

I don't think I've
ever let anyone do that.

Whiplash is a very,
very good control bot.

But can they take our hits?

No way.

Oh!

Having the upper
deck in the arena

really gives us that extra edge.

We will get them on top of that.

To the judges, that'll be huge.

We're a top contender.

Bloodsport can deliver
so much damage.

Oh! Huge impact!

We really need to aim for
its wheels, aim for the edges.

If we just hit one thing in
their bot that's critical, then

whiplash will get destroyed.

Look at this!

May the better robot win.

I am peter abrahamson
and I am the bot whisperer.

Combat robotics has
been around for a long time

and so have I.

I've been in it since 1994.

My robot ronin
from way back when

was a heavyweight with treads

I machined myself all
the way round the robot.

Ronin!

I actually started in special
effects for film, television,

making creatures,
monsters, robots

for movies and tv.

As the bot whisperer,
one of my biggest jobs

is coming around in the pits,

being with the builders,
looking at the changes,

the adaptations they're
making for each fight.

I nerd out when I
see certain things.

I get very excited
by these robots.

Check this out. This is one
of the discs from switchback.

The ability to sort of
translate the technical

into what goes on in that arena

is so enjoyable and fun for me.

This is pretty damn
close to a dream job.

I mean, it's pretty
hard to beat.

We are back on battlebots.

- Are you ready for our main event of the evening?
- Ooh, I can't wait.

Kenny, when we talk to
these teams before the season starts,

a lot of them say, "hey,
I'd be happy to make

it into the round of 16
or the quarterfinals."

when we talk with matty vasquez,

the captain of
whiplash, he said,

"chris and kenny, there's
one place for me to go,

that is back to
the championship,

but this time I need
to hoist the giant nut."

- it's pretty simple for him.
- That's right.

And listen, they're always
looking to try to progress

and do better each time out.

But matt vasquez told
us the geometry changes

inside the battlebox could
be exactly what he needs

to give them the
edge this season.

With his driving skills,
he is more than capable

of trapping opponents
in the short corner

or throwing them on
top of the upper deck.

Will he be able
to do that tonight?

And now they're taking
on a team that was

really a surprise in 2020,

bloodsport, led
by justin marple.

A season ago, a
perfect regular season,

a number two overall seed
heading into the playoffs.

They made it to the round of 16,

a couple of tightening
of the screws and bolts

and all sorts of stuff

that's technical jargon
for you people at home.

- They might advance...
- Good job.

All the way. Who knows?

Yeah. Listen, I think
they have a devastating weapon,

but we saw it snap
in half last year,

most notably in the
tournament against gruff.

Justin said they switched
from s7 tool steel to ar500,

a much more durable metal.

Does that make him an
even bigger knockout threat?

Let's see what they got.

Should be a good one.

Faruq, take it away.

Ladies and gentlemen,

are you ready?

It's time for the main event.

In the red square,

this plasma donation
program is legally binding,

and you'll be spilling blood
like that elevator scene

in the shining.

So sit back, relax and
prepare for the pain

as he uses that giant bar

to try and find a vein.

It's bloodsport!

Bloodsport
returning for its third season,

led by justin marple,

who's pushing out
that nasty, nasty robot.

Nasty is a good word, chris.

They're using their new
75-pound tri-bar tonight.

At top speed,

a collision with that thing
is equivalent to getting hit

by a 12-pound bowling
ball, moving it about

300 miles per hour.

Justin marple going for
the 7:10 split tonight, kenny?

I think he's
looking for a strike, chris.

In the blue square,

like a young michael jackson,

our next bot is a thriller.

This thing is bad,

and last season
it won the silver.

You want to beat it?

I don't know how to
say this any clearer,

but if you want to
see its next victim,

better look at the
bot in the mirror.

It's whiplash!

That a way, my
man, faruq, way to bring it.

Of course, he just
pulled a hammy

and he's going to end
up on the injured list

for the next ten
days. That's fine.

Well, we've already seen
the vasquez clan once tonight,

but now it's big brother's turn.

Twenty-two-year-old captain
matty vasquez on the right there.

He is, of course,
widely regarded as

one of the best drivers
in the entire sport.

He is surgical,
chris, but take a look

at those new piano
key wedgelets.

Those are designed
to get under bloodsport,

which should make his
lift even more effective.

To win this, matt needs to
sweep the control category,

and he's hoping those
wedgelets help him do that.

Kenny, you talked
about the nastiness

of bloodsport's weapon.

The key justin marple said

it's got to work a
full three minutes.

Exactly, and
to do that, they're not

going to be constantly
spinning their tri-bar.

They're going to pick and choose

their spots to spin up.

So if it's not spinning,

that doesn't mean
it's not working.

And one thing to
keep in mind with whiplash,

they had six wins last season.

All six were judges' decisions.

This bot is tough to knock out.

Robots, activate.

Red team, ready?

Blue team, ready?

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Let the bot battle begin.

- A box rush from whiplash.
- Bloodsport...

Spin up, lands a shot,

but whiplash says, "that's
enough out of you, pal."

now whiplash is trying
to stay right on bloodsport.

Oh!

But, kenny, bloodsport
doing a great job so far,

creating space to attack
here against matt vasquez,

and whiplash just
chipping away at the wedge.

It sure is, and
that is no easy task, chris.

And here you go again,

that tri-bar spinner
really going now.

Yeah, nice little sparks,

but here's whiplash
on the attack.

This is where, this is
where matt vasquez wants to be.

Let's see if he uses
the upper deck here.

Bloodsport sheds
a tire, but slips away.

Masterful driving by both
of these captains so far.

- Uh-oh.
- Here's matt vasquez,

pushing bloodsport
into the rails,

giving it a nice little
tour of the battlebox.

But how about bloodsport

throttling that weapon
down to avoid damage?

And now cracking away backup.

Bloodsport
fighting an aggressive

and intelligent match so far.

But here's last year's
runner-up in control.

Jam him up into the screws.

Ladies and gentlemen,
that is a 250-pound robot.

Oh! Bloodsport slips away.

This is becoming
a pattern, chris.

Whiplash just hit with
the twitch on his teeth.

Oh! Another big shot.

Bloodsport is beating
up that wedge on whiplash.

Give credit to matty
for staying squared up

and protecting the wheels.

But I think to this
point, in this fight,

we've got to give most of the
damage points to bloodsport.

Closing in on a minute to go.

Can matt vasquez find a
way to even the scorecard

here down the stretch?

Kenny, this is going
to help whiplash.

Bloodsport on its head over
by the upper deck. Impressive!

Wow!
Their self-righter

is hung up in
those screws, chris.

Bloodsport frees
itself, but whiplash gets

right back on top of it.

There is bloodsport,
back on its head,

that is some incredible control.

He's trying to get him
on top of the upper deck, chris.

Can he do it?

There's your answer.

Can bloodsport find a way

to get off of there, kenny?

That's like a fish out of water.

Can it work its way out?

They're doing
their best to try to get

that weapon, to
try to self-right, but...

I don't think they're
going to be able to, chris.

This is just matt vasquez
at a different level right now.

So they're going to avoid the...

They are not.

Matty vasquez and whiplash,

last season's runner-up has

a ko in its first go-around.

One.
That's a knockout!

Nice job. Great job.

You're a wizard.
That was awesome.

Kenny, we're used
to seeing matt vasquez

dominate matches with
his world-class driving.

However, we are not
accustomed to seeing

one of his opponents
go toe to toe

with him in that department.

No way. Justin
marple was in the zone tonight.

He found the space
bloodsport needed to spin up

and land a bunch of clean shots.

Did whiplash
actually need this knockout?

Listen, I thought
bloodsport was ahead

on damage near
the end of the fight.

This could have been
dicey for whiplash

if it had gone to the judges.

But the bottom line is,

matt made sure
that didn't happen

and proved why he's the
best driver in the world.

And you know what? Few
guys can stick to a plant better

than matty vasquez.
It's as simple as that.

Yeah, I mean, he could place

that bot wherever he wants,

and even worse, he could place

the other bot wherever he wants.

And that was
bad news for bloodsport,

which unfortunately
got a really nice tour

of our brand-new upper deck.

Do you like the view up there?

Unbelievable.
Matty called this shot.

It's the one time you don't
want to hang out in the penthouse suite.

Matt. -Hey.

Hey, your dad just
called you a wizard.

Do you understand why?

Uh, I guess.

What do you mean, you guess?

I mean, that was a masterclass
in driving, was it not?

Yeah, I felt like I did
exactly what I needed to.

I've had a lot of fights
really similar to this.

I fought, you know, son of
whyachi, really similar robot.

I did the same thing in this
fight that I did in that fight.

Every time I hit them,

they're taking pieces off of me,

so I need to get
them over and out

as soon as possible

because if this fight
goes to three minutes,

they're just going to wear
me down till I'm done. Yeah.

So I got to knock them out.
That's the only way to do it.

Matt, you actually made history.

You are the first bot
to deliver a knockout

on the upper deck. Whoo!

Yeah, right.

-That... That was
actually... -great job.

Yeah.

- Hey, congratulations.
- That's a bucket list.

That's a bucket list. You
can check that one off.

Congratulations, guys.

- We'll see you in your next fight.
- Thank you.

Thank you.

Kenny, listen, people
come and watch battlebots

'cause they love to see the
explosions, the fire and all that,

but sometimes the display
of driving like we just saw

from these two teams,

can be just as exciting.

That was some great stuff.

And it was another incredible
slate of qualifying action

here in las vegas.

It is going to be
an all-out dogfight

as the field continues
to duke it out

for the coveted 32 spots

in this year's world
championship tournament.

So, enjoy the ride.

- Did you have fun tonight?
- Oh, I had a blast.

- You wouldn't lie to me, right?
- Huh?

- You wouldn't lie to me.
- No, no,

- I wouldn't, of course not.
- No, no.

So for faruq and our
bot whisperer, pete,

and my man, kenny florian,
who never lies to me apparently,

I am chris rose.

We'll see you next
time on battlebots.