BattleBots (2015–…): Season 6, Episode 3 - Ducks, Dragons, Killer Snakes - What a Zoo! - full transcript

Robots, activate.

Welcome to battlebots, the world
leader in robot fighting action.

To our international viewers,
hola, bonjour, and konnichiwa.

And to our robot viewers,
a hearty 01001101.

I'm chris rose,
joined, as always,

by fight analyst and mma legend,

say hello to kenny florian.

Chris, thank you so much,

I didn't know you spoke
robot, that's so cool.

Yeah, just a little.

I remember from high
school and I'm pretty sure



I just asked the pulverizer
where the library is.

Anyway, over the years, battlebots
has truly become a global phenomenon,

and this year's
tournament is no exception.

We've got combatants from across
eight countries and five continents.

That's right, chris.

But there's one thing
in the battlebots world

that's the same in every
language and it's the giant nut.

Let's take a look at the
14 teams hoping to kick start

their championship
journey tonight

with that all important
first win of the season,

and this group has
some serious firepower.

We'll see the serrated slasher
cobalt make its return to the battle box.

2020's most destructive
bot award winner, valkyrie,

as well as perennial giant
nut contender's witchdoctor,



and the unburnable
brazilian's black dragon.

It's a who's who of the
sport's heaviest hitters.

We've also got the
return of some exciting veterans.

After taking last season off, hal
rucker and the indestructible duck!

Will re-enter the battlebox.

And for the first
time since 2018,

grab your earplugs, chris, the combustion
king icewave is back in the field.

I'm telling ya, no one
could say no to vegas.

And, of course, all
roads lead to tonight's main event

where we will see if the
living legend donald hudson

and lock-jaw have the
antidote for the vicious bite

of last year's number
three seed, copperhead.

This fight is over.

But kicking off tonight's
action, we've got a good one.

It's the tank that
loves to toss, slammo!

Throwing down with the
always electric, hypershock.

Kenny, hypershock
led by will bales

is one of the most popular
teams in the entire competition,

and while they've given us plenty of
memorable moments over the years,

they've yet to put together
a memorable season.

That's right, this is
a team that went toe-to-toe

with bite force in
2015 in the round of 16

and nearly pulled
off a magical upset.

Hypershock has all the
tools to become a top tier bot.

We'll see if this is the year
they take the next step.

And as for their
opponent, slammo!,

they went two and one
in the qualifiers last season

lost to eventual
semi-finalist black dragon.

This spot, led by craig danby, is looking
to make the leap from middle of the pack

to legitimate contenders.

Kenny, you ready to
get this thing going?

Let's do this.

Are you guys ready as well?

I thought so.

Faruq, take it away.

Ladies and gentlemen,
it's robot fighting time.

In the red square, he came
from miami, and he's here to slam thee.

It's hypershock!

Here we go, team hypershock.

Will bales mask's
all over the arena.

They love this guy.

Snuck into the tournament last
season as the number 32 overall seed.

Kenny, this spot isn't
just pretty, it is lethal.

That's if everything
is working properly.

And that's the biggest if.

But listen, will
sounds confident.

He's got a complete squad, as you
can see running the high five gantlet.

I'm expecting hypershock to
stick and move, stick and move

and wreak some havoc with
that dual disc vertical spin.

In the blue square, from
raleigh, north carolina,

being in the ring
with this spot,

it's all the
slammunition it needs.

It's slammo!

Captain craig danby
draped in the union jack.

Kenny, slammo!
Is built like a brick.

How does it win this
fight against hypershock?

Well, slammo!
Is a powerful grappler

that looks to control
fights by grabbing, tossing,

and disorienting its opponents.

It needs to be durable enough
to survive shock from hypershock.

Ideally, try and break
will bales' weapon,

then look to sweep
that control category.

We don't want to have a one and
done, you know, one hit wonder fight.

We, we want to have a
good back and forth with craig.

He has very low forks.

He has lots of little
clickety-clackety things.

No doubt he's gonna try to get
under us because it's his whole thing.

We have to do our darndest to
make sure that doesn't happen.

So, we threw out all the old
stuff that wasn't quite right,

and we beefed everything up, put
bigger parts in, put better parts in,

and we think it's gonna be a
heavy hitter. It's gonna be great.

We are a grabby lift bot and we
have covered our robot this year

in anaglyph dazzle camo.

So, if you've got 3d
glasses, it's gonna pop.

There's this whole new feature
this year called the upper deck.

The plan is to pick up hypershock
and throw them on there.

And when they get back off, I'mma
throw them back on there again.

I'm coming in for the win.

I'm always coming
in for the win.

I'm the sultan of suplex.

That's what I'm here for.

Robots, activate.

Kenny, look at these two
getting into each other's squares,

a little bit of gamesmanship
right off the bat.

Oh, excited for this one, chris.

Red team, ready?

All right. We're
good. Go for it.

I guess, that's why he's
will bales and not just will "bail."

blue team, ready?

I'll hammer, if it's over there.

You got this.

Come in.

Some tension on
the faces of these captains

both looking to
kick off the night

with a crucial first
win of the season.

Let the bot battle begin.

Hypershock circling
the drain on slammo!,

able to get underneath with those
front forks and lands in clean shots.

Woah. Big hit.

We are seeing the
speed advantage shot right away.

Oh, yeah.

- Keep your arms up. Take him down.
- Yeah.

Uh-oh. Hypershock smothering
slammo! Here in the opening stretch.

Oh, and now backing it
down in the short corner.

Geez! Holy smokes.

Slammo! Trying to stay
squared up when hypershock is too fast.

Oh, no.

Oh, just ran into the
fist, here, of will bales.

And then gets slammed
into the rail by will bales,

who's going in for more.

Going in slammo like
a lion investigating a kill.

Hypershock! Hypershock!

Oh, we could
have a countdown coming.

Ten...

and there it is.

Danby never knew
what hit him in this match.

Hypershock, too
fast and too curious.

One. And the match's over!

Kenny, hypershock fast
out of the gate, really impressive.

They sure were.

They kind of circled around
their opponent for a little bit.

Got the angle and then just attacked
nonstop, getting underneath them,

hitting them hard from the back,

hitting them hard from the side.

Tremendous driving
there from will bales.

And I thought, really the
important thing was hypershock was grounded

the entire fight,
sometimes in years past,

we've seen him deliver a shot
and then wobbly all over the place.

Well, I think that's
due to the new chassis.

You see, it's a lot wider.

It's a little bit longer.

It's gonna give
it better stability.

But again, the speed was there.

Everything was just extremely
impressive from that team.

And I think what we've
learned is if you get knocked

into that short corner
next to the upper deck,

if you cannot work your way
out of there, you're gonna be doa.

Absolutely. They
took full advantage of that.

They cornered their opponent
and then took them out.

Will bales.

It did the thing.

You... You have had enough
of will bales, the funny guy.

I mean, it's time for people to start
taking you and hypershock seriously, huh?

It's nice to have
everything working,

although, technically the weapon
wasn't "running" at the end,

but it clearly did some damage.

How does it feel to
get a win like that, man?

Not only do you get a win,
but it was an exciting win,

kind of a... A
vintage performance.

It's been a little while.

It's good. It's nice to
be back in the groove.

You know, craig and
his team are wonderful.

They're a great robot.

Respect them greatly.

But I've got the best
team here this year.

When are you gonna dye your
hair green like your teammate?

Well, let's see how it goes.

Oh, wait a second.

How about if you
get a top 10 seed,

you'll dye your hair
in the round of 32?

Fine, if we get a top 10
seed in the round of 32,

you can film me dyeing my hair.

Hey, there we go.

Will bales has thrown
down the gauntlet.

Congratulations
on the fast start.

Thanks, guys. Good
to see you again.

You, too.

Congratulations.
We did it.

Whoa, we did it!

I know it is just one win.

But you heard him.

We made a bet that
if he cracks the top 10,

I think we're gonna have to throw
a poll out there on social media.

What color should
will bales dye his hair

if you have to live up
to his end of the bargain?

Yah, but what are you gonna
do? You just had him do a bet.

You didn't put
yourself on the line.

What are we gonna
do to your hair?

I can't come out
here with pink hair.

- Well, maybe I can.
- I think it will look nice.

- Match your tie.
- Oh, nice.

- Here we go. Let's do it.
- You know what? I'm in.

If will bales is in,
chris rose is in.

- I like it.
- Is kenny florian in?

You are unbelievable.

No, but you did the bet.
I was just sitting here.

Hey, after a break can p1
motor his way to an early season win?

Or will valkyrie pour
sugar in his gas tank?

Find out next on battlebots.

We are back on battlebots.

That is kenny florian,
I am chris rose.

Up next, we've got a showdown
featuring valkyrie and p1.

Let's start with captain leanne
cushing and valkyrie squad.

Last season, they had their most
successful run yet in battlebots.

Went all the way to the round of 16
before bowing out against whiplash.

No shame in that.

Kenny, leanne is gaining a reputation
for her tactics and her fight iq.

And, oh, yeah, her bot was voted
2020's most destructive as well.

That combination
is a winning formula.

Valkyrie is so versatile with
their primary weapon options.

This team is always
playing chess,

looking to counter
their opponent.

Tonight, they are
squaring off against p1

captained by brandon zelinsky.

Kenny, I thought there
were significant improvement

during the 2020
season out of this robot.

That's right,
this team was very close

to making the
tournament last year,

but its wins over smee

and chronos didn't move the dial
enough to convince the committee.

But brandon is back this
season with a chip on his shoulder

and determined to drive
p1 into the winner's circle.

And even though he's facing a highly
dangerous opponent here in valkyrie,

p1 has the speed and durability
to be a menace out there.

All right. Should
we be on upset alert?

Let's find out and
send it over to faruq.

In the red square from
somerville, massachusetts,

this bot is here to
ragna-rock your world.

It's valkyrie!

Team valkyrie always
ready to put on a show.

We talked about
their limitless arsenal,

so what weapon are they
going with tonight, kenny?

They're debuting a new blade.

It's called dr. Acula.

This blade actually has the
s7 tooth inserted into the blade

that's gonna do chunky damage
to a wedge and especially wheels.

If valkyrie can out drive p1, we should
see plenty of metal flying around the box.

In the blue square from
hudson, new hampshire,

he'll drape a checkered
flag over your closed casting,

it's p1!

All right, kenny, what's it going
to take for p1 to put the sport on notice?

Well, a win over valkyrie
would be a statement for sure.

Brandon's given
p1 the full overhaul.

He shortened the chassis,
added weight to the wedges,

installed some
magnets for stability.

The bot's ready. We'll
see if brandon is too.

P1! P1! P1! P1!

We're not in the
little leagues anymore.

We're fighting a real robot
who's a real chance at the nut.

If they go shooting in
the air, we're in business.

If not, we're probably gonna
have to sit on or under their weapon

as long as possible and just
grind away at their weapon to try

and make it thermal
shock and fail.

Valkyrie might be looking
across the pit and they say,

"oh, these guys have
no spinning weapon

just a drive, just a lifter."

they're gonna be in
for a surprise tonight.

We've made valkyrie
stronger with both our drive

and our speed at which
our weapon spins up.

We were able to save some weight

and also get a bit
more shoving power

and stay as fast as
we were last years.

We're looking to not get flipped

because it's going to
put us at a disadvantage

because p1 is lower
to the ground than us.

We sit just under a foot
tall and they beat us in that,

and I'm really worried
that if we're inverted,

we're not gonna have much
to do except for try to recover

and figure out a
way to flip back over.

Robots, activate.

Both teams are locked, loaded,

and looking for an excuse
to exchange insurance info.

Red team, ready?

Blue team, ready?

Here we go.

P1 and valkyrie, an
opening win is so crucial.

Who wants it more?

Let the bot battle begin.

P1 under charge against
up under valkyrie in a hurry.

Oh, that's some
serious speed there for p1.

Oh, man. - oh.

Oh. P1 not afraid
to stick his nose in there...

- wow!
- But a wheel is off already.

Oh.

P1 absorbing
some damage here, chris,

but leanne cushing
needs to be careful.

P1 is so much lower than
valkyrie, getting underneath it at will.

Ah! Look at
that gyroscopic force.

Valkyrie just dangling
there in the air almost.

Oh, man!

Brandon zalinsky
getting the lifter involved there.

P1 continues to get low ground and
use that horizontal spinner's energy

against itself.

Oh, now it's on fire.

That looks
like valkyrie is on fire.

It is smoking.

And p1 has
valkyrie in for it now.

Leanne cushing warned us.

She was worried
about the scenario.

It is spinning out of control.

Has it lost its weapon?

That's the big question,
the drive is still working.

Yep, that fire
inside of valkyrie there,

could have been
the weapon motor.

Now for p1, does
it have its drive intact?

Valkyrie's weapon not working

and it's taking a shot
from the pulverizer.

Some friendly fire there, chris.

That was valkyrie's pulverizer.

Oh, another one.

Just go back.
Just go back. Just, no.

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop!

Okay, seems like there's some
serious chaos on team valkyrie's side

of the driver's deck.

I think, they
were trying to flip valkyrie

right side up
using the pulverizer.

Risky.

Labeled the most
destructive bot a season ago,

but right now, the
weapon is not active.

The drive isn't
working entirely.

Major frustration for valkyrie.

Valkyrie, you got to
show me controlled movement.

You hear the ref issuing
a warning to valkyrie there.

Remember p1 as it continues to
engage that can have an effect on engines

ending the fight and
stopping a countdown, kenny,

but p1's drive not looking all
that hot at the moment, either.

I think it's showing more
movement than valkyrie here.

Brandon zalinsky
continuing to engage.

I think it's struggling because of
that lack of wheel on that left backside

fifteen seconds left to go.

And there's p1 showing it
still has function in that lifter.

This would be a huge upset if p1

is able to get it done
against valkyrie.

Remember, they were big
time underdogs coming into this fight.

Oh, my... Oh, my god, we did it!

Oh, my god.

Team p1 thinks
they've got the w,

but this one is
going to the judges.

All three are former
battlebots participants.

Derek young, jason
bardis, lisa winter.

Once again, it's an 11-point scoring
system for the battlebots judges.

They could award up to five
points in the damage category,

three for aggression
and three for control.

So, kenny, how did
you see it play out?

Well, leanne told
us she was worried about p1

getting underneath her
robot and boy, was she right?

Because that proved to be
valkyrie's kryptonite in this match.

P1 used its speed and low
profile to repeatedly upend valkyrie

and dictate the action.

P1 did suffer some damage
in the process, though, losing a wheel

and taking a flurry of shots
to its lifter and top armor.

But eventually, it was able
to break valkyrie's weapon,

which was brandon zalinsky's
goal from the very start.

That's right, and that's
where things could get interesting

because the most heavily weighted
category in the damage column

is damage done by
a primary weapon.

You can argue that valkyrie
scored points with its spinner,

while p1 did most of his
dirty work with its wedge.

But in terms of the eye test,
valkyrie flying around the box, the fire

it suffered halfway through,

you have to imagine
p1 has the leg up here.

Both bots are
a little punch-drunk

as the final seconds
ticked away.

Faruq has the results.

Let's see which way
the judges chose to go.

The results from
the judges are in.

The winner by
unanimous decision is...

p1.

P1!

All right, then, there it is.

You can see the excitement and
the relief on the faces of team p1,

that was a gutsy effort. Their
bot's a little worse for wear,

but in the end, the judges
awarded the unanimous decision

and they have the coveted
1-0 start to their season.

All right, coming up next, it's the
battle bots debut of the rookie riptide.

And there's its opponent,
hard to miss inside the test box,

it's huge.

Stick around for the fight.

Next on battlebots.

We continue on with battlebots.

Next up on the fight card,

it's huge versus riptide. In a field
widely considered to be the most stacked

and most dangerous
in battlebots ' history,

it's an intimidating
time to be a rookie.

Just ask switchback, who we
saw take the l on opening night.

Historically, new captains struggle
to break into the tournament,

let alone make it
past the round of 32.

But young captain ethan kurtz is out to
prove that he and his bot, riptide, belong.

Is that bolt tight?

My name is ethan kurtz.
I am the captain of riptide.

Riptide is a egg beater spinner.

We've been heavily
inspired by yeti.

We love yeti's lifters and we also
love that yeti had a very long, wide drum.

We want a huge spinner putting out
all the mass on the weapon as possible

for the best energy transfer.

And that's how riptide,
kind of, was formed.

Our biggest strength
is our 55-pound drum

that spins at 190
miles per hour plus.

We launched a 20 pound
medicine ball, 200 feet in air.

We've launched a 300-pound
tire 10 foot into the air.

We're just a fan of
big effing weapons.

For a rookie team, we are all
really stoked to get in the battlebots

because we really
wanted to be here.

We all kind of knew each other
from the vex robotics competition.

We all wanted to do
something together.

Battlebots was the hardest
thing we could think of.

My father is on the team.

He's experienced with, like,
radios and rc planes in the old days,

so he knows how
to troubleshoot things,

he's been really,
really helpful.

Being captain, absolutely
thrilled, and this is a lifelong dream.

I'm just really, really excited.

I just wanna get out
there and hit something.

Riptide now just moments
away from making its debut

on the big stage.

And when ethan found out that
he was gonna be on battlebots,

he said it was a
dream come true.

But he may be facing a
welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment here

as he takes on huge, captained by,
a very motivated, jonathan schultz.

He's coming off a
rather disappointing

and often frustrating
2020 season,

but this is still a very
dangerous robot, kenny.

That's right. And,
you know, the interesting thing

for me here is that
just a short time ago,

it was huge that was
the untested rookie

with something to prove.

But after three seasons, this
robot has been around the block.

They know what it takes to win.

And I think the team's experience
should be the difference maker

in this match up.

Faruq, take it away.

In the red square, from
south windsor, connecticut,

the bot's so big, it gave
shaquille o'neal nightmares.

It's huge!

All right. Here we go.

The iconic big wheels of huge.

Kenny, will this be the year huge puts
it all together and makes a deep run?

Well, listen, jonathan
tells us the motor on the weapon

is twice as powerful,
much more reliable.

He's ready to put
last season behind him,

and he's gotta
love this matchup.

Riptide is low to the ground and right
in the sweet spot for huge's weapon.

In the blue square,
from tarzana, california,

keep out, this water
is not fine at all.

It's riptide!

And there we get
our first live look at riptide.

You can see the overall
excitement from this squad.

Ethan told us, he didn't
sleep a wink last night.

So, the question here is
can he shake off the nerves

and steal a win, kenny?

Hey, anything is possible.

They've added a wedge to
try and mitigate some big hits.

And riptide has that egg beater
style weapon that spins up quickly.

This is a bot designed
for aggression.

The big question,
will ethan hesitate

or will he put the
pedal to the metal?

Against huge,

our strategy is just to be full
aggressive, full on yeti pounding.

We're thinking that we
could spin up faster than them,

box rush them and keep them from
actually spinning up their weapon.

The only thing that we could
really hit and actually, you know,

grab into is their weapon.

Their wheel is ably, and
they're really hard to get bite on.

When we first learned that
we're going against huge,

we're like, "this is our
counter, why huge?"

but we're gonna do our best
and we're gonna give it our all,

and it's gonna be a great fight.

He's the type of robot that
we think we like to fight.

He's very low, his
weapon's pretty low,

and we know that it's gonna
take a lot of work for him

to really get high enough
to actually damage

some of the more
important parts of our robot.

I like the chances, but I'm never
gonna say, we're gonna win a fight.

We want this season to go well
because we want it to show that

last season was a fluke for us and get back
to the level of performance that we used to.

Big test for
the rookie here, kenny.

Hey, no pressure, right?

Just your battlebots debut against
huge in front of a pumped up vegas crowd.

Let it ride, riptide.

Let the bot battle begin.

And, oh, the box rush by
the rookie, getting under huge.

Oh! My goodness.

Let's go!

A ridiculous shot by riptide.

And now pushing huge
into the screws as well.

Oh, I think, he
wedged him in there, chris.

Is huge stuck?

The little screw should
actually reverse...

I gotta see him get out.

It should, but jonathan
schultz is getting a warning from the ref.

And I'm not sure, he can get out
of there without some help, chris.

And now look at this, riptide
is leaning on those big wheels

and there goes the screws.

Can huge escape?

Ten seconds, back off.

Wow!

The ref instructing ethan kurtz to
stop corralling and get out of there, kid.

Huge just floundering.
Those plastic wheels,

they can't get any traction.

And here comes the countdown!

Huge just has a few
seconds left to get out of there.

- Can he do it?
- Five, four...

- it's so close.
- Three...

Two, one. That's a knock out.

That is a knock
out. The rookie riptide.

What a huge upset.

Kenny, talk about a rookie
making a statement out of the gate?

Yeah, this was unbelievable.

I mean, the knockout
shot basically,

happened right at the start,
got some chips off of huge.

Look at that shot.

I mean, that is some
serious power right there.

And ethan kurtz followed it
up by pushing huge into the screws,

that big old uhmw wheel got
hung up and that was all she wrote.

Riptide with the upset.

Ethan, can you hear us?

I hear you. Yeah!

I just killed my throat.

Ethan, what is pumping through
your veins right now, my man?

Our weapon is freaking powerful.

That's what's running
through my veins!

Is this better than you
could have dreamt?

Oh, yeah, we thought they were just gonna
spin down and smash our weapon to bits.

We did not actually expect
them to spin up towards us,

which is actually,
exactly, what we wanted.

We didn't think they
were going to do that.

-Hey, ethan, I know
you're a rookie... -yeah.

And you've only had a
minute's worth of fight in battlebots,

but are you a contender?

Yes.

Hell, yes.

Hell, yes.

Hey, you're your pop stan is
behind you, bring him up here.

- Bring pops up here. Hey, stan.
- Yeah.

How proud are you of your son?

I couldn't be more proud.
This is, it's amazing.

He's a, he's an amazing guy and
it's just amazing to see him do this

and perform like this
at battlebots. Amazing.

Did you almost shed a tear?

Ah, I'm about to now
that you're asking.

During the fight,
absolutely not.

All right. Well, guys, congratulations
on your first ever battlebots victory.

Thank you.

An incredible debut from
the new master of hype, ethan kurtz.

And if you're jonathan
schultz, you just chalk it up to,

kind of, bad luck that
you got stuck back there.

I mean, really, he wanted at
least two or a full three minutes

in order to gauge how this
bot was going to run in 2021.

Yeah, what an
unfortunate start for huge,

especially coming off
such a disappointing season.

This has to be frustrating
for jonathan schultz, but listen,

all you could do is shake it off

and we'll see what this team is
made of as the season rolls on.

Credit to riptide.

That's a big-time win.

Good job, rook. Good job.

Coming up next, can fusion fuse
his saw with his opponent's face

or will cobalt steal
himself a victory?

And later, in our main event, a lot of
vegas gamblers would call these two bots

odds-on favorites for a top
seed in this year's tournament.

It's copperhead and lock-jaw
exchanging bites tonight.

They're gonna
be a very tough battle for me.

It's gonna be much
more of a bloodbath.

I don't think, he's gonna,
wanna go weapon to weapon.

That's what we're
gonna want to do.

We continue here on battlebots.

And up next, cobalt makes
its return to the battlebots

against none other than
reese ewert and fusion.

And there he is, the youngest
member of the famed ewert clan,

the first family
of robot combat,

working on, what
is a technologically,

ambitious fusion with
its dual primary weapons.

Reese, obviously, has a lot
of outside pressure on him.

The expectations
of the family name,

being overshadowed by his
older brother, jake and hydra,

last year's number
one tournament seed.

But leaving all that
legacy talk aside,

reese is running a bot
that just hasn't been able

to string together
successful fights.

Last season, I called
it the fusion confusion.

It seemed, like, I didn't know
what was, what it wanted to do.

When it worked,
it looked promising.

When it didn't, well,
it basically exploded.

And that inconsistency left a
bitter taste in reese's mouth.

In the off season, he shipped
out the bot speed controllers

to the manufacturer, hoping
to put an end to the fire issue.

But the jury's out on
whether it's been resolved.

That unpredictability
causes a lot of stress.

But as we know, if he can get
the technical issues under control,

this bot has the ability
to hang with the best.

You know, there's a whole
lot of talent in the ewert gene pool.

Fusion, certainly a bot to
keep your eye on in 2021,

especially, if they can take down
a very tough opening opponent.

So, listen, I need
you to humor me

and follow along with
this story of cobalt.

It used to be owned by a pair
of brits, dave moulds, sam smith,

they both recently
became fathers.

Congratulations, by the way.

That means they
couldn't be here.

So, what they did is they
sold cobalt to john mladenik.

He, of course, is the
captain of gigabyte.

He's got his own robot to run.

So, he called his
buddy, brent rieker,

who used to be on team gigabyte.

He said, "sure, I'm not
gonna drive the thing, though".

So, they got their
buddy matt maxham.

He's gonna drive cobalt, who's
been so excited about this robot.

He's called john mladenik, who
once again is the captain of gigabyte,

and he said, "I'm so excited.

I'm so excited
about this robot."

you probably
don't understand it.

All you need to know
is this is one bad bot.

Yeah, chris, cobalt is vicious.

I still remember it
ripping the face off of duck!

A few years ago.

One way or another, the
vast majority of its fights

have ended in a knockout.

It's had a ton of
international success.

And many consider this to
be a top five bot in the world.

With a driver like matt
maxham at the controls,

cobalt's saw-like vertical
spinner has horror show potential.

It's an absolute killer.

Can't wait to see what it does.

It's all coming your
way right now, faruq.

In the red square from
pleasant garden, north carolina,

he came, he saw, he sawed.

It's cobalt!

The mad man, matt
maxham, pushing in cobalt there,

making its return to battlebots.

This team, awfully eager
to get a fight under their belt

with this robot, kenny.

That's right. And they
wanna bring cobalt back with a bang.

You can see it has
that compact design,

and the vertical spinner
has some nasty edges.

And for this fight, they've
welded on a central fork to try

and jam up fusion's weapons
that could be a difference maker.

In the blue square from
dorchester, wisconsin,

the ambidextrous
assassin, it's fusion!

Wow, a lot of
fusion fans in the house.

Reese says, he's gunning
for the giant nut this year.

But fusion simply has to
get out of its own way, kenny.

They think they've
got the flameout's handle,

but the paranoia
is still very real.

I've always said, if
they can stay alive

and keep both of those
primary weapons active,

this is one of the most
dangerous bots in the game today.

Well, I've got a fire
extinguisher under our desk, just in case.

We're a little bit
cautious about this one.

You can prepare for
a horizontal spinner

or you can prepare
for a vertical spinner.

But they're both.

It's harder to prepare
for somebody that can,

that can attack you
in two different ways.

The strategy is not to
get caught in the corner.

If we can keep them
from getting under us,

I think we can win this fight.

I am incredibly tired of
losing for team whyachi.

Matt is a pretty good driver.

He's... He's a veteran.

He's been around for 23 years.

He's currently working on a
contraption in the welding tent to try

and beat my horizontal.

He leaves me no option
but to go at him with the vert,

get him flipped over
and then tailwhip him

with my... My horizontal
and rip into him.

Robots, activate.

Listen to this crowd,
they are ready for a brawl.

Will reese ewert add another
chapter to the storied history

of the whyachi clan?

Or will cobalt throw
the book in a blender?

The fight when
battlebots continues.

We are right back into
the action here on battlebots.

Fusion and cobalt are on a
collision course inside the box.

Both teams hyper-focused
on getting their first victory.

Matt maxham on the sticks
for cobalt, reese ewert for fusion,

game faces securely on.

Yeah, chris, I don't think
these two smile in family photos.

Couple of warriors here.

Red team, ready?

You think matt's tensed now?

You gotta see him do his taxes.

Blue team, ready?

Let the bot battle begin!

Slow and steady,
out of the square.

Oh, nice pop by fusion
with the vertical spinner.

The weapon to weapon
hit. Oh, fusion by fusion.

Oh, gosh, does
cobalt wants a war?

Yes, it does.

Matt maxham
is just throwing cobalt

into that vertical
spinner on fusion, chris.

So far, it's cobalt getting
the worst of these exchanges.

Another big shot
delivered by reese ewert,

whose bot has yet
to catch on fire, kenny.

I call that a massive progress.

Whoa! - whoa!

Uh-oh! But how long
can fusion keep this up?

I guess there's your answer.

Geez!

I keep waiting for
fusion to go up in flames,

but it is looking rock
solid here, kenny.

Wow!

Oh!

Oh, cobalt's flopping around like
a fish, and it has come to a dead stop.

Fusion has ripped
the front of cobalt to shreds.

Look at that damage.

Ten, nine...

and here comes the countdown.

Eight, seven.

A frustrated matt
maxham can only watch

as fusion will
celebrate its victory.

Two, one.
That's a knock out.

You did good.

We just couldn't get under it.

So, after a rookie season
plagued by technical issues,

reese ewert comes
out here tonight,

runs both of fusion's weapons for the
entire match and absolutely dominates.

Seems like they got
it all figured out this season.

My goodness, that
thing was hitting so hard.

Look at that.

And, kenny, on
the flip side of things,

matt maxham seemed determined
to send cobalt right at fusion

and settle things
weapon to weapon.

Do you think that
was a good strategy?

Well, no, not after
those first few impacts.

I actually think the extension
they added to cobalt's front wedge,

prevented it from
winning those exchanges,

but matt kept on mashing the
controls and begging for more contact.

Be careful what you
wish for, I guess.

Hey, yeah, reese, bring
the whole clan in, why not?

That's the way fusion is
supposed to work, right?

That's how it's
supposed to work.

I think we got that
confusion figured out.

He said that, it
wasn't me, I swear.

That was kenny, by
the way that said it.

I'll hold that against
you for quite a while.

Yeah, exactly.

Well, you got it all
figured out, man.

That thing was
hitting and hitting hard.

And guess what?

You didn't burn up.

That's right. That's
the best thing, uh.

That's all you can ask for,
really, it's not burning up.

You seem calm,
cool and collected.

Were you this confident
heading into this fight?

Eh...

I've seen some fires testing
at home before we came here,

but I did some tuning on it and I was
the most confident I've ever been in that.

So. - wow.

Hey, reese, through
one fight this season,

you have a better record
than your older brother.

- What's that mean to you?
- That's right.

Yeah, I'd like to welcome jake
back to battlebots this year.

I think he deserves an award.

Um, you know, being the most
hated man on television at a time

when donald trump
was on television.

All right, reese, those
improv classes you took

during the off season
are really paying off.

- Thank you.
- All right, dude.

Congratulations. Job well done.

He's so good.

All right, we started
off this fight kind of poking fun

at resee ewert and
fusion, by the way,

that was you that he
was upset with, not me.

I almost forgot.

Yeah, but it was nice to
not see the bot catch on fire

and to do what it
was supposed to do.

That's right. Listen, they
had high hopes for it last season.

They were hoping
that it would do just that.

Um, but again, when you're
bringing in new technology,

it could take a
little bit of time.

It's all coming together
right now for them.

All right. So, are you backpedaling
a little bit? Are you trying to step off

what you were saying earlier?

I'm on team fusion
now. No, no confusion.

I'm on, I'm on team fusion.

You just want some of the
proceeds from the t-shirt sales.

That's all.

Coming up next, will black
dragon be too hot to handle

or will icewave
be too cold to hold?

And later tonight in
our monster main event,

copperhead will
collide with lock-jaw.

There's captain
donald hutson and...

Oh, hey, get a
little snake bite.

Donald's doing all the foreshadowing
for us as he gears up for his bout

with last season's
number three overall seed.

The sparks keep flying
when we return on battlebots.

We are back on battlebots and up next, we
welcome back one of the four semi-finalists

from the 2020 season, black
dragon, now captained by gabriel maia.

How tough is this robot?

Last season in
one of its fights,

it was on fire for two
minutes and won the match.

Black dragon.

That is one nasty bot.

And, chris, we saw
their fellow countrymen, minotaur,

survive an inferno
on opening night.

There's something
in the water in brazil.

They're building bots
as durable as they come.

Uh, it's been a while since we've
seen icewave in full-time competition.

Last year, they participated
just as a bounty finalist.

So, marc devidts, welcome
back for the first time since 2018.

Kenny, some might call
icewave past its prime.

I ain't one of them.

No one looks forward
to fighting this robot.

It can still
chop through concrete.

So yeah, I'd be a
little hesitant, too.

Listen, this bot is from another
era and in many respects,

the sport has
technologically caught up

and even flown right past them,

but just like any legend in
the twilight of their career,

ice wave has a wealth of
experience on its side to its credit,

mark has rebuilt icewave
from the ground up

and the dude's a robot wizard,
so I am not sleeping on this bot.

Let's send it over to faruq.

In the red square, this bot is a
brazilian sporting legend like pele.

He's always down for the
rumble, always up for the melee.

He gets a kick
out of torturing you

and taking your soul and winning
the giant nut is his only team's

goal!

It's black dragon!

Oh, yeah.

You hear the crowd, black dragon
won over a lot of fans last season

with that unforgettable
quarterfinal win over ribbot

and now a brand-new
captain is soaking it all in.

That's right,
gabriel maia now at the helm

and he's got his eyes
on the finals this season.

Black dragon has a ton of
wedge combinations and of course,

that heavy egg beater drum.

In the blue square, facing off with
this bot, that's the path you've chosen?

This thing's so cold,
it's practically frozen.

But there's no anna or
elsa or olaf on this show

when he holds your life in his
hands and decides to let it go.

Give it up for icewave!

Marc devidts, ah,
carrying his little daughter with him.

Truly a family affair.

Kenny, icewave is like a car,
like same car, but newer model.

This thing looks pretty cool.

No doubt, very slick.

Looks brand new, but there's
a couple of familiar things

that deadly 54-pound blade
that spins 200 miles an hour

and icewave still roars.

It's a pleasure to face icewave.

Uh, as you said, it's a legend and
one of the most destructive ones ever.

I will run after icewave.

I'll go search for him.

I'll not let them, uh, accelerate,
spin up the bar, so I'll keep pushing

and I'll try to get the center of the
arena so I don't get into surprises.

It's a little
intimidating, coming in,

having not fought for a few
years in the full tournament,

then getting thrown up against
one of the best teams from last year.

I'm worried about a head-to-head
hit with their weapon against ours

because I think ours
won't fare so well.

Theirs is really thick.

That's going to start chipping
pieces off of our blade.

But if we can hit anywhere
else, I think we'll be good.

Robots, activate.

Black dragon looking
menacing inside the box

and now they've got a chance
to shut down an icon in icewave.

For more on icewave, let's
check in with former editor,

current analyst
and forever genius,

the bot whisperer,
pete abrahamson.

All right, pete, tell us
what separates icewave

from the other robots out there?

Well, the biggest deal is
hidden underneath that box.

What's under there is an
internal combustion engine

taken out of an
emergency rescue zone.

Now, a few seasons back, they
were using the actual whole saw

and all pieces to it.

Now, what they've done,
over the years as it's evolved,

and the only thing left
is this cylinder head.

All the rest of this has
been completely re-machined

and redesigned to
be a far more efficient,

easier to start, more
reliable, icewave.

Thank you, pete.

So that's what's under the hood.

And kenny, I love hearing
the sound that this thing makes

when it starts cranking up.

Yeah, it is a very
intimidating sound, for sure.

All right, here we go.

Red team, ready?

All right, nice
moves from the brazilians.

This team's already
in the groove.

Blue team, ready?

Let the bot battle begin.

And here's the black dragon
delivering his shot to icewave.

What a dangerous
start to this fight. My goodness.

Black dragon smothering
icewave now, taking it for a ride.

Wow!

And this is big time trouble
for mark devidts's icewave.

Its engine is roaring, kenny, and there
is no action, whatsoever from that blade.

Our parts are rippin'.

The chain or belt or something.

Yeah, I think black dragon
may have knocked icewave's weapon

out of commission in
that first exchange, chris.

And the brazilians
are not backing down.

They want to finish the job.

Nice putt there as black dragon
drives icewave into the short corner.

Can mark devidts find
a way to turn the tide?

Oh!

Another shot from black
dragon and now the pulverizer

adding insult to injury as well.

Icewave is drowning, chris.

Ten, nine...

the referees agree, and
the countdown has officially started.

Six, five.

Yeah, their primary
weapon has been shut down

and the robot has been shut out.

One!
That's a knock out!

Black dragon, fast
out of the gate here in 2021.

Kenny, when a box rush
goes your direction, man,

it can totally change a fight.

Yeah, that's right. Black dragon
wasted no time going right at icewave

and they just never let up
getting underneath them there,

take 'em for a ride
around the battlebox,

getting them to slam into walls

and it was pretty much
all black dragon here.

Well, icewave's
blade huffed and it puffed,

but it just wouldn't
start up again.

That's right, black dragon
basically broke icewave's arms

in the first 10 seconds
of a would be fist fight,

then left it huddled
in the corner.

Brutal.

And there's the
pulverizer exclamation point

on a dominant performance
by the brazilians.

Thank you guys.
Thank you. Thank you.

Well, kenny, that is a
statement by a semi-finalist

from the 2020 season.

This black dragon squad
is a lot of fun to watch.

The crowd loves them.

They got cool dance
moves and they just said,

"sorry to spoil your big-time
return, icewave, but remember us?

We're back!"

and for icewave.

You took your licks.

Now, it's all about
bouncing back.

Coming up, the quack is back.

Hal rucker and duck!
Return to the box

for a matchup with
2019 runner up,

witch doctor.

That's next on battlebots.

We are back on battlebots

and we've got a
spicy one for you.

Kenny, let's start with witch
doctor and andrea and mike gellatly.

They admitted that after they
finished runner up in 2019,

they were feeling
the pressure in 2020

and it kind of showed. One in
two during the regular season

worked their way into the round
of 32 where they won a match,

but they bowed out
in the round of 16.

They said, this year,
nobody's gunning for us.

I ain't buying that,
kenny, are you?

Neither am I. They're
a legendary team.

They've been
around for a long time.

They're very well respected.
They are always dangerous.

And listen, despite
being an old school bot,

witch doctor has adapted
and evolved with the sport

and the results
speak for themselves.

They were a title favorite and every
team will keep a close eye on them.

And that includes
duck! Engineered by hal rucker.

He's looking to shake off
the ring rust and as he told us,

he's not sure if a
defensive-minded bot can keep pace

with this year's deadly line-up.

I'll tell you what, if I'm facing
a bump like witch doctor,

I want to be very
defensively sound.

That's what hal rucker and duck!

Are all about is don't die,
survive, be more durable.

And as you can see, they've
got the new duck! Bill lifter.

Hal wants to control
this fight and use the lifter,

both to mitigate
heavy weapon shots

and to hopefully,
put witch doctor

in some precarious
spots inside the box.

It's going to be a battle.

Faruq, take it away.

In the red square.

It wasn't dr. Kevorkian
and it wasn't dr. Seuss.

When you ask me who the
killer is, you have to tell the truth.

It wasn't dr. Zhivago
or dr. Frasier crane

when they ask, "witch
doctor killed you?"

say, yep, mm-hmm.

That's the name,
it's witch doctor!

Oh, a standing
ovation for the 2019 runner up

andera and mike gellatly
and team witch doctor.

The people still love them.

And, kenny, it's hard not to
expect big things from this robot.

They are always
in final boss mode.

That's right, even last season,

they followed an early tournament
exit up with a spectacular bounty win.

This team is
unrelentingly aggressive

and mike's one of the
best drivers in this sport.

In the blue square,

brace yourself, y'all,
it's about to get spooky.

This thing is a murderer,
something straight out of a movie.

Imagine a scene, you wake up
in a dark room, mouth taped shut.

You can feel the impending doom.

Suddenly, the
killer's behind you.

You feel his breath on your back

and you know your day
when you hear the... Quack.

Give it up for duck!

Duck!, a
fan favorite as well,

participating for the first
time since the 2019 season.

Listen to the crowd.

And look at
those forks on duck!.

Chris, we know we won't
get a lot of offense out of duck!

But hal is a master of,
what I call, the ugly fight.

He wants to take witch doctor's
best shots like he's rocky balboa

and score enough points with
the judges to steal a victory.

Uh, we've made
some pretty big changes

to our weapons system this year.

We switched to a
different material,

uh, for the discs, to get away
from the issue we had last year,

we've made some changes
to the weapon motors,

so we'll have to
see if that's reliable.

So, this is going to
be a really big test.

And really important for
us to win this first match.

We noticed that they have some
really, really big forks on the robot.

We're not going to be
able to outfork them,

so, we've actually decided not
to use the ground scraping forks.

And we're going to use
maneuverability to our advantage.

Hopefully, they're not used
to driving with their forks

and they get a little bit hung up
and that's just the opening we need.

This year's version of
duck! Is completely new.

Uh, it's 100 percent
brushless motors.

Uh, we got rid of the
plow that we had last year

and we now have a lifter
that works like a real duckbill.

In previous seasons, we've been
known as the robot that's hard to kill.

We just keep going.

We've had our weapon ripped off

and eventually, won the
match because we just endured.

We've kept that durability.

That's our main feature.

We're hard to kill.

I think we might have a shot.

Robots, activate.

The immovable object, duck!

The unstoppable
force, witch doctor,

here we go.

Let the bot battle begin!

Nice and easy,
out of the squares,

witch doctor's weapon
up to full speed.

Oh!

Oh, witch doctor lands a shot,

it rips the fork clean off of
duck! That was impressive.

That was a beautiful
hit there by witch doctor.

It's trying to go after
the other one, chris.

Witch doctor scores some serious
damage points and there's another shot.

Mike gellatly all over duck!

Here in the early going.

Nothing like a delicious
appetizer of duck! Tires.

Oh.

Witch doctor punches
duck! Across the box.

And there's hal rucker with a
counter shot straight to the weapon

of witch doctor.

In seasons past,
we've referred to duck!'s strategy

as "break your
fist with my face,"

and that's hal rucker's
path to success here again.

He just wants to
dirty up this fight.

And speak of the devil, kenny,

it looks like witch
doctor's primary weapon

is creeping to a stop.
Has duck! Done it?

It looks like it may have,

and that is bad news
for witch doctor, chris.

This is exactly what hal
rucker was looking for.

Okay, so a
minute into this fight

and duck! Has
flipped the script here.

It can now go to work without
fear of getting chewed up

by witch doctor's main weapon.

Yeah, and it's turning into
a pushing match right now, chris.

They've come down to
who the more powerful bot is.

You see it there,
the bots lock horns.

And how about this,
duck! Driving witch doctor

into the screws
of the upper deck?

Witch doctor is like, "hey
back off me, pal or hal."

hal rucker's duck!, showing some
effective control in this sequence

that will count big time.

This is going to come
down to a battle of the drivetrains

of these two robots, chris, which one
is going to exert its grill on the other

and control the action
from here on out.

Witch doctor has now gone
about a minute without its weapon.

So now trying to
win the ground game

and utilize the battlebox
to its advantage?

Oh, nice strike by
witch doctor with the pulverizer.

Oh, another.

Those shots from
the hazards are so important

in fights like these where
the bots are grinding it out

and trying to show every bit of
control that they can, kenny florian.

And that can help
as far as damage as well.

I'm impressed that with
just one fork, their duck!

Is still able to get
underneath witch doctor.

But look at that, that's what I'm
talking about the power in that drivetrain

from witch doctor. They said
they're gonna be more powerful

and you could see
it straight away.

Thirty seconds
remaining in this one,

precious time to
score a knockout

or impress the
judges is ticking away.

Witch doctor has really
turned it on here down the stretch, chris.

They are the faster robot, the
more powerful robot putting duck!

On its heels now pushing
them around the battlebox.

Under ten to go. This
one is going to the judges,

witch doctor bidding duck!
To close out the action.

Kenny, duck!
Lives up to its reputation

and goes a full three minutes with
one of the games heaviest hitters.

The duck! Don't die.

The judges might like it, chris.

And we'll have the decision
after a break, here on battlebots.

We are back on battlebots

and as the judges tally up their
scorecards after a three minute slugfest

between witch doctor
and the mighty duck!,

let's take a look at the replay.

Kenny early on, witch
doctor had everything working,

yeah, which
doctor came out on fire

ripping that front
fork off of duck!

Following it up with some huge
hits and racking up damage points.

But right here out-countered
with a beautifully placed shot

right into witch doctor's
weapon and shut it down.

And from there it became
the kind of ugly duckling fight

duck! Was looking for.

That's right, we had a
pushing match on our hands.

Duck! Stayed aggressive and
did its best to capitalize, but for me,

it was witch doctor that
proved to be the bigger bully

utilizing, what looked like, a
superior drivetrain down the stretch,

duck! Never could get its lifter in
the mix and mount an offensive,

and witch doctor
seized control of the fight.

Let's see what
the judges thought.

Here is faruq with the decision.

The results from
the judges are in.

The winner by
unanimous decision is...

Witch doctor!

Andrea and mike, I hate to
break up the love fest over there,

but for the first minute it
looked like witch doctor

did exactly what
you wanted it to do.

Am I right, andrea?

Absolutely.

Our number one objective was
not to break those weapon disks.

And duck! Is a tough robot to go up
against, especially as our first match.

So I'm really excited, once the
weapon started slowing down...

Obviously, we don't
want to see that,

but I knew something was
wrong, so I actually shut it off

because I thought it would
look worse to the judges

to see smoke than
just a weapon turned off.

So I don't know if that
had an effect or not,

but we were really prepared
for a judge's decision with duck!

Because you just can't ko him.

You guys showed your
experience right there.

What was the strategy, it
seemed like you were going

for the forks early as well?

Yeah, I mean, that's
obviously, duck!'s strategy

to get under us with his fork.

So and they're nice and
long and nice and tall,

so we're hoping we'd
be able to disable those.

And, you know, obviously
he's got three other nice,

chewy sides that
we were going for,

but the weapon only
lasted about a minute.

So, we weren't able to
really get a ton of hits on him.

But what we did, I
think, looked pretty good.

Andrea, you are a fan favorite.

Your fans want to know, is this a
robot that can win the giant nut?

I couldn't hear the question.

Over the clapping.

Well, that's what
happens, you're so popular,

you can't even hear. I asked...

see, they still love
you, they love you.

Your fans want to know, is this robot
reliable enough to win the giant nut?

You know, teething issues
is not new for our team.

We are experts at
recovering, and duck!

Is as much of a fan
favorite as we are.

So I know either way, this match
went, we were letting some people down,

but we feel a lot of pressure to our
fans to not let them down this year.

Stay classy, witch doctor.

You're off to 1-0
start. Congratulations.

Thank you.

So, this one ends
up closer than expected,

but witch doctor is
in the win column.

And for hal rucker
and duck! A tough loss,

but great to see them
back inside the box

and making a top
team earn every points.

Okay, folks, we have arrived.

Up next, our main
event of the evening,

the venomous vehicle copperhead,

now under new captains
kimberly and robert cowan,

takes on lock-jaw led by
battlebots og donald hutson.

It's lock-jaw!

Coming back to battlebots
after all these years...

donald hutson, the legend.

It still makes me nervous,

kind of gives a little
shortness of breath.

You can just hear the sound
of that beep, beep, beep.

And your blood pressure goes up.

All of a sudden, it's all gone.

It's all quiet.

All you think about
is driving the robot.

And so, try and take 'em out.

Whoa!

What a shot.

This is going to be a
tough, tough tournament.

Oh, no mercy from lock-jaw.

We're gonna have
to fight for this championship

there's no doubt.

It's copperhead.

Last year was a good
season until it wasn't.

First three fights, we
had some good knockouts.

Oh, what a shot.

An unbelievable
performance by copperhead.

And then going into the
finals, we just kind of lost it.

This is a monumental upset.

We've always been
plagued with drive issues,

so we completely stripped
out the drive, rebuilt the drive.

We have this frame that's one
inch thick, hard aux, but then inside,

it's all really modern brushless
technology and very high tech stuff.

This year, things are
gonna go a lot better.

Robots, activate.

Going into our fight
against lock-jaw,

what we're really looking to
do is try and out-drive them,

and that is obviously
a very tall task

because it's donald
hutson, the legend.

Unbelievable,

the driving by donald hutson.

He is ruthless.

Bot to bot, I think, ultimately,

we do have a better
bot than he has.

But we're gonna have
to be on our game.

I think, I have a more powerful
weapon that spins up a lot faster.

We're gonna try
and out drive them

and just get a
couple of quick hits.

Oh, look at that!

Our strategy... Smash.

We want to use that
weapon as much as possible.

Oh, my goodness.

The new box configuration is
just kind of squeezed us all down.

There's places to be trapped,
there's places to be stuck.

It's gonna be much
more of a bloodbath.

Whoa!

A fight filled with
mayhem and chaos.

I don't think, copperhead
is one of the bots

that you want to
put in a corner.

'cause we got a big
bite right up front.

Oh, my gosh.

I love it!

I'm local las
vegas artist, david fay.

Assemblage art is what I
do, metal assemblage art,

so it's taking trash and
turning it into treasure, I hope.

I like to think
of it as treasure.

Whoa! I think, a tooth
just flew off the shrederator.

Oh, shrapnel all
over the battlebox.

What I'm doing is I'm
taking the wreckage from these fights

and I'm creating the sculpture that
we can then auction off for charity.

My thoughts and ideas
are to build this trojan horse

because it's the hidden competitor
within that's gonna win the battle.

This is an amazing experience
and I wanna thank all the builders

for all their hard work and
everything they put into these robots

to get them into that arena.

And I can't wait for
you to see the sculpture

and see your parts
and pieces in it.

And I hope it lives up to
your expectations, guys.

We are back on battlebots.

Are they chanting your name?
Are you fighting here in vegas?

I don't know.

How'd you do in vegas,
by the way, back in the day?

- I did well, actually.
- Did you?

Yeah, it was, it was
overall pretty good.

Okay, kenny, it
is time for the main event

and this is a heck of a matchup.

Copperhead, lock-jaw two
legitimate giant nut contenders.

And let's start with copperhead.

Zach goff, the captain from
last year, taking the season off,

so turning over the controls to the married
couple of robert and kimberly cowan,

which makes sense because
copperhead actually lives in their garage.

Free loader, by the way.

You'll remember, in 2020,
copperhead was great.

3-0 during the regular season,
number three overall seed

upset in the round of 32.

But robert said even though we
had a perfect regular season record,

there were still plenty of
blemishes with this robot.

Well, that
shocking loss to mammoth,

obviously, still hurts.

But as they told us, they've
taken a lot of the weaknesses

out of an already
excellent copperhead

and they think they've got
a championship level bot.

Taking out one of the og's of the
sport, donald hutson and lock-jaw.

And it was kind of a
rough 2020 season.

You can hear the
fans chant for him.

Very, very popular robot. Donald
couldn't make it out of the round of 32.

So, did he take
an early vacation?

Of course not.

He got right back in the
box and won a bounty.

You simply cannot
count this team out ever.

The way lock-jaw tore through

the beat up bounty tournament
that was an artist at work.

They want to keep that
momentum going into this season.

Donald won a desperado,
he's won a bounty.

Now it's time to put together
a dominant regular season

and prove that lock-jaw is
a true giant nut contender.

Does that first
step start tonight?

Let's find out. Faruq.

Ladies and
gentlemen, are you ready?

It's time for the main event.

In the red square,
this bot may be tiny,

but if it manages to land shots,

you're going straight
out of the park,

like that movie, the sandlot.

Yeah, yeah.

This little thing is a beast,
winning all of its brawls,

so you better jet or
you'll be screaming,

"you're killing me, smalls."

give it up for copperhead!

There they are, team
copperhead, snaked out from head to toe.

This is an intimidating
machine, kenny,

and look at the
size of those tires.

They're almost
as big as the bot.

They've even got
the snake mini bot.

A lot of things to love
about copperhead,

but none more than
that drum spinner.

Man, is that thing dope.

By the way, she's got
a real snake around her neck.

- I was going to say.
- Holy...

In the blue square, like a
root canal, he'll bring the pain,

he's giving you two
weapons and no novocaine.

Rocks bots sky high
like there's no gravity,

then fills up their
graves like a cavity.

It's lock-jaw!

You know, kenny, back in 1999,

donald hutson won a battelbots
tournament right here in vegas.

And from what we've heard, he thinks
he's got a serious shot at another one

with this version of lock-jaw.

That's right, in 2020, he was
working out what he calls new bot bugs,

but he's taken all the
best aspects of that bot

and turned it up to a 10. That
vertical weapon is spinning up

to 250 miles per hour
in only a few seconds.

The bot is durable.

It can drive inverted
if it needs to.

I can't wait to
see it in action.

Getting a good
look at copperhead,

and I thought robert's
philosophy on how to win this fight

was very interesting kenny.

Well, yeah, I
mean, listen, he said.

All we got to do is hit them as much
as possible, wherever and whenever.

Forget being technical.

Go out there and
strike, and strike first.

I don't know if it's
the best strategy,

but you gotta love the confidence
they have in their weapon.

Robots, activate.

Copperhead flanked
by its snake nuisance bots.

Lock-jaw trying to play
the role of mongoose.

Kenny, a lot of tension
here in the arena.

You can see it on donald's face.

He wants this one.

Red team, ready?

I mean, that is amazing.

She didn't find that on
the way in today, did she?

Blue team, ready?

I guarantee you the pits
are gonna empty for this one.

Copperhead, lock-jaw.

Hold on to your lug nuts.

Let the bot battle begin!

Lock-jaw in pursuit
out of the gate.

Looking to be aggressive, but drive
directly on top of copperhead here.

That's playing with
some serious fire.

Oh, you can hear those weapons.

Really grinding up.

Lock-jaw going out
there using its plow there.

Right against their primary
weapon to copperhead,

copperhead gets
underneath, though.

Yeah, it could
definitely do some damage

to lock-jaw from the underbelly.

Oh, yes, weapon on
weapon, sparks fly.

Big impact there.

Lock-jaw not
backing down at all.

Ah! You heard robert cowan and
copperhead saying he wanted to go weapon

on a weapon with lock-jaw.

The dude was not lying.

Oh, big shot by copperhead.

How long can these
two weapons last, chris?

It feels like we're
gonna find out.

Well, copperhead winning
the battle for low ground so far,

lock-jaw is absorbing
the punishment.

Yeah, definitely. Seems
like that suspension system

of lock-jaw is serving
it well right now.

I think there's a
problem with...

Double hit there from copperhead

and those forks are
getting messed up.

Oh, my gosh.

We're good, we're
good, we're good.

Oh, yeah, that
left fork is bent backward,

that left front wheels
hanging up for dear life

and lock-jaw is behind
the eight ball now.

But suddenly copperhead
looked stunned, too.

Yeah, that's right.

It seems like they might be
trying to get some space as well

to try to get that
weapon up to speed.

Oh, lock-jaw is on fire!

We have seen this
in seasons past.

Yeah, he may have to
shut down their primary weapon.

Big hit by copperhead.

Right in front of us.

And now lock-jaw is on its head.

Can it self-right?

Oh!

Copperhead says, "maybe I
could be of some assistance

in that department, sir."

that fork is really messed up,

and they typically
use that to self-right,

but there's a major
problem with it right now.

Copperhead going
to town on lock-jaw.

That weapon has been
dishing out pain since the opening bell.

Now we know why the
cowans were so confident about their bot.

Under a minute to go.

Copperhead looking a a little out
of control here in the second half

but continuing to
attack and grind away.

There's been some
massive hits by both robots here,

but no doubt about it, lock-jaw showing
way, way more wear and tear here.

But how about lock-jaw
shows off that powerful drivetrain,

just bullying copperhead
into the screws,

yeah, donald hutson
an amazing driver doing his best

to hang in there and jam
up that primary weapon.

I don't think that thing has
stopped spinning for one second.

No doubt, it has been a rock.

Look at lock-jaw playing the
aggressor down the stretch.

Oh, a big pop by copperhead.

Nice recovery by donald hutson.

He's done a great job of
resetting and staying aggressive

after those exchanges.

What a fight!

And we have got a double decker
bus sandwich to finish off three minutes

of back and forth
action here in las vegas.

An amazing
performance by both bots

and now this one
will go to the judges.

Kenny, snakes
usually lie in wait,

but not this one, copperhead
was in attack mode from the jump.

Well, robert cowan's game plan

was to put that drum
spinner to work.

And my goodness, did he
stick to it every time lock-jaw

engaged with its vertical
spinner, copperhead was right there

for the weapon on weapon hit.

And copperheads certainly
got the better of those exchanges.

Their weapon never
stopped spinning

while donald's
went up in flames.

That's right, but somehow
lock-jaw was the more aggressive bot

in that second half.

Donald used his rear wedge to try and
jam up that weapon throughout the fight,

and despite spending a good
portion of the match inverted,

donald managed to control
much of the action down the stretch

as copperhead was
swinging for the fences.

Wall to wall
action in this main event.

Let's head over to
faruq with the decision.

The results from
the judges are in.

We have a split decision.

Judge jason scored the
battle for copperhead.

Judge derek scored
the battle for lock-jaw.

Judge lisa scored the
battle for the winner...

Copperhead!

Robert and kimberly,
uh, sigh of relief?

Yeah, I don't...

Why couldn't you make
that easier on us, man?

You just wouldn't die.

You just kept going.

Were you surprised
that it was a split decision

based on what we
saw inside the box?

- No, no. Not at all.
- Why?

Did you watch the match?

I mean, it was back
and forth the whole time.

So he got hits, we got hits
and just we both kept going.

Yeah.

You said you want
to just stay aggressive

and kind of get rid of being a technical
driver and just get in their face.

Are you pretty happy
with your performance?

Um, no. I think anything
that goes to a split decision,

we got to try better so
that we can get a knockout.

We need a knockout next time.

Kimberly?

Yes.

Why do you have a real
snake around your neck

and your husband's
got a fake one?

'cause I secretly wear
the pants in the family

wow.

The snake pants.

Congratulations on your
first win as co-captains.

Thank you.

Kenny, it's interesting because

robert, kimberly cowan felt like, yeah,
it should have been a split decision.

I don't know. Maybe I saw it
through a different lens here.

I thought they were dominant.

Well, listen, I think the difference
was their primary weapon.

They were the ones
who are really doling out

most of the hits
throughout the fight.

Their primary weapon
never went down,

whereas the primary weapon
of lock-jaw did go down.

So, I thought it was going to
be pretty clear for copperhead.

But it was a very exciting fight

and lock-jaw got some
great hits in early on.

All right, what
a stellar night of action.

We saw stone cold knockouts
from hyper shock and black dragon,

while others, like
p1 and copperhead,

had to rely on the judges
for their first victory.

But I got to tell you, I thought
the headliner, unquestionably,

was reese ewert's bot fusion.

That's right. I mean, again,
you look at their bot last season,

they had a ton of problems,
a ton of inconsistencies.

This time, they were very
consistent and very dangerous.

So, another fun night here at
battlebots. Once again for faruq,

our bot whisperer, pete,
my man, kenny florian,

I'm chris rose. We'll see you
next time here on battlebots.

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