BattleBots

Robots: Activate.

Welcome to Battlebots.

Tonight the tournament action continues in the round of 16,

as some of the field's most terrifying robots

fight it out for a chance to advance to the quarter finals.

I'm Chris Rose, joined by the man I'm hoping can

protect me from all the flying shrapnel tonight.

My "bot-e-guard" and my hero,

it's MMA bad boy, and our analyst, Kenny Florian.

Yeah. No, Chris, uh, this is my only suit, so...

Uh, right.

Historically, the round of 16 has given us

some of the most memorable moments and high stakes upsets

we have ever witnessed inside the Battlebox.

Whoa, chomp landing a one-in-a-million shot.

And we expect more of the same tonight,

as the world's top combat robots

continue their quest for the most prestigious trophy in all of sports,

the Giant Nut!

The remaining teams will have to win

four more fights

in order to stamp their name

in the history books.

And after a merciless round of 32,

all six rookie teams have already been eliminated.

And with eight of the top ten

seeded bots still in contention, names like

Hydra, Bloodsport,

and Uppercut,

this round promises to be a clash of the titans.

While just making it to the top 16 is an achievement,

across the bridge lies the championship rounds.

And for teams like Mammoth, Ribbot, Tantrum, and Shatter,

who are still building their reputations in the sport,

punching their ticket to the final eight

would be a life-changing experience.

Then there are established teams

such as Whiplash, end game,

and Valkyrie, who are sitting on the cusp of greatness,

ready to grab the torch from an older generation,

driven to win a championship and achieve superstar status.

And there is no bigger star left standing

than former champion Ray Billings.

An unprecedented 21 seed this season,

Ray told us he still believes Tombstone

is the most dangerous bot in the field.

He'll get a chance to prove it when he faces the number five seed Black Dragon

in the biggest match of the young Brazilian team's career.

We'll dive into all of the matchups

as we go,

but we begin tonight with a clash between

two veteran teams

eager to write the next chapter in their violent

head-to-head story,

it's the seventh seed, Sawblaze, taking on

number 23, Witch Doctor.

A rematch from last season's 2019 world championship tournament

where Witch Doctor knocked off Sawblaze in the quarter finals.

We spoke with Jamison Go earlier today,

he said, "listen, I have replayed that fight in my head

thousands of times,

I've rewatched it hundreds of times."

Jamison Go's dream season comes to a violent end.

Sawblaze wants payback.

48 feet across the box,

Witch Doctor will be lying in wait,

they're fueled by desire to get back to the mountain top

after coming, oh, so close to victory in last year's championship final,

falling all the way to a 23 seed this season,

they look like the Witch Doctor of old

in their first round fight against Skorpios.

Oh, what a shot by Witch Doctor!

And Andrea and Mike Gellatly

are ready to rip Sawblaze to shreds

if it means another chance at hoisting the Giant Nut.

Settle in, it's gonna be a heck of a night.

Faruq, let's hit that start button.

Ladies and gentlemen,

it's robot-fighting time!

Whoo!

In the blue square from Cambridge, Massachusetts,

the Boston massacrer, it's Sawblaze!

Well, there they are, Sawblaze.

Always like checkin' out the forks in front of the robot.

What have you got, Kenny?

Well, as always, Jamison wants to

use those front forks

to play the bully, scoop up Witch Doctor

and control the action.

But Mike Gellatly is a world-class driver,

and Sawblaze will have to catch Witch Doctor

before they can impose their will.

In the red square, from Miami, Florida,

the bad juju concocter, it's Witch Doctor.

Arguably, the most dangerous 23 seed in history,

Witch Doctor is always a knockout threat with that powerful vertical spinner.

What's their strategy against Sawblaze, Kenny?

Well, Andrea will probably

use their nasty weapon to try and get a quick knockout,

but they need to be careful.

Jamison has the edge when it comes

to controlling the ground game,

Witch Doctor doesn't really have much protection against those forks on Sawblaze.

So, the faster they can inflict damage, the better.

We feel a lot more confident about our chances this time around.

Winning the low game, like every other fight,

is gonna be really important for Sawblaze's strategy.

A lot of the improvements have been in the reliability of the machine

and the ability to keep the front end down.

And so, if we're able to win this one,

it's a huge validation to the improvements we made to the machine.

Basically, whoever dominates the fight first ends up winning the fight.

He knows that if the match goes a long time,

the odd switches in our favor to get a hit, and the same with him,

so he's trying to win the match really fast.

We're gonna try to get in really close quarters with him.

Sawblaze's weapon is no joke and it could be a one-hit knockout.

So our priority is to deactivate that

and then to knockout his drive.

Robots: Activate.

Our bot whisperer, Pete, is checking in

with more on Jamison Go's robot. Pete.

So, an amazing thing that the team spent quite a bit of time

during the off season doing is moving weight forward

within the bots. If they could get a little more grip up front

and not do pop wheelies,

look for an attack by their weapon into the center

between the two teeth of which Doctor to cut some belts.

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!

Witch Doctor knocked 'em out of the tournament last season.

Can Sawblaze exact some revenge and return the favor?

Let's find out!

Fight, fight!

Let the bot battle begin.

Jamison Go has got ahold of Witch Doctor,

taking it into the rails,

that's a beautiful pin, that, saw's all fired up.

Shot to the top of Witch Doctor.

Great shot there by Sawblaze,

getting off to a great start here.

Sawblaze winning the low ground battle.

Witch Doctor doesn't care...

big hit, and again.

Great comeback shot by Witch Doctor,

as it tries to get around the side of Sawblaze.

Looks like it's goin' for those tires, Chris.

Yeah, it doesn't mind stickin' its face in the grill.

Literally like that barbeque grill that's coming out

of Jamison Go's bot.

Look at that.

But here comes Sawblaze on the counter attack.

Oh!

- Oh! Great use of the pulverizer. - Oh!

And a huge hit by Witch Doctor, too.

This is a back and forth war!

Now it's Sawblaze's turn.

Oh, it takes Witch Doctor down.

And that was a huge part of Witch Doctor which just came off.

Yeah, that was that front wedge, Chris.

Oh!

Sawblaze has been aggressive and is dictating the action here.

Witch Doctor has some serious work to do.

This is the most aggressive we've seen Jamison Go so far, Chris.

No question about it.

Aggression, one of the three huge categories on the judges' score card.

Oh! Great job with the hammer saw.

He's got Witch Doctor pinned.

- Huge shot! - It's caught on those forks, too, Kenny.

Yeah, the fork is jamming up the primary weapon of Witch Doctor, Chris.

We are halfway through this match.

Witch Doctor breaks free and is able to spin back up.

Both weapons still very much in play.

By the way, that hammer saw, the tip speed has been increased

to max out at 250 miles an hour this season on Sawblaze.

And that is doing some serious damage.

We haven't seen him utilize...

In the competition, but right now,

it's doing some serious work

on Witch Doctor.

Yeah, it's gotten in a few nice rib shots.

Oh, boy! Witch Doctor's starting to smoke.

That's something you gotta keep your eye on with under a minute to go.

Oh! Witch Doctor takes a rib shot from the pulverizer.

That's a 100-pound hammer dropping right on its rib cage.

Sawblaze putting so much pressure on Witch Doctor right now,

getting those forks involved beautifully.

And since we saw that smoke, it looks like

Witch Doctor lost their primary weapon.

That disc has slowed to a creep.

Oh!

- Witch Doctor is in deep trouble. - Whoo!

Last season's runner-up is getting run into the screws.

- Oh! - 25 to go.

Witch Doctor just taking blow for blow, getting run around

the Battlebox by Jamison Go and Sawblaze.

Well, Sawblaze has completely taken over this fight,

I think he's gonna get a knockout here, Chris.

- Ten, nine, eight... - Witch Doctor is getting counted down,

- seven, six, five... - But which clock will expire first?

The game clock or the ref's countdown?