BattleBots

Robots, activate.

Welcome to BattleBots.

The leading name in both explosive mechanical fights

and complaints from the robot humane society of America.

Hi, everybody, I'm Chris Rose, joined as always by UFC legend

and robot combat analyst extraordinaire, Kenny Florian.

Thanks, Chris, we know the action in the box can get pretty intense.

And we're at the point in the season where every match comes with dire stakes.

For most of the teams entering the box tonight, it's do or die.

That's right, the round of 32 is fast approaching

and as we near the end of the qualifying rounds,

these bots wanna make the most of their last chance

to impress the selection committee.

You said it, Chris.

This is when these teams need to pull out all the stops.

With just 32 spots up for grabs

in the world championship tournament bracket,

if they want in, it's time to make a statement.

And here are the 14 squads

that'll be looking to make that statement tonight.

Kenny, what jumps out to you?

So many great matchups on this card, Chris.

How about Minotaur and Deep Six?

Both checking in at one and one with a tournament berth

likely on the line.

After a year away from robot combat,

phenom driver, Daniel Freitas, will wear his heart on his sleeve

as he looks to crush the murderous windmill, Deep Six,

in hopes of making another serious run at the giant nut.

We'll also see the rookie, Blip, try to finish the season

with an undefeated record.

Standing in its way, one of the greatest builders in history.

Donald Hutson and Lock-Jaw.

The winless veteran isn't going to go down quietly.

This will be a huge test for Aren Hill and Blip.

And it's all leading to an incredible main event,

as Zach Lytle's Skorpios tries to plant his stinger

in Greg Gibson and Christian Carlberg's Yeti.

Two of the field's most relentless drivers

will feel the pressure of a high stakes win and you're in brawl.

Look for that to be an old-fashion dog fight.

But it all starts with our first matchup

and this one's gonna be brutal.

A cataclysmic clash of one to one bots

looking to stake their claim in the round of 32.

It's the elemental nightmare, Cobalt,

versus a robot that is abrasive and often taciturn in manner, Gruff.

It is a huge night of fights. Kenny, let's not waste any more time.

Faruq, the floor is all yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?

It's robot fightin' time!

In the red square,

his parents always said that this bot played too rough,

it killed all the bots at summer camp.

But being away from home is tough.

It played killer Kumbaya and ate sacrificial s'mores,

but it was hard to play tetherball when the bots were tethered to the floor.

Grenading Camp Granada, it's Gruff!

Sam McAmis, the man with the curly Q, he says how you do, how you do?

KO'd Switchback, knocked out by Hydra so far it is one tough bot.

Yeah, it sure is and that toughness going to be crucial here

against an insanely powerful vertical weapon.

We're about to find out if Gruff is the bot

that got tossed out of the ring by Hydra

or the one that torched switchback in a Blaze of glory.

Huge fight here.

In the blue square,

this team's from a place called Pleasant Garden.

Man, that sounds nice.

Let me guess. Low crime rate, good schools, just a wonderful life?

Then again, how pleasant could it actually be?

When its most famous resident is this robotic killing machine.

Give it up for Cobalt!

There's the green menace marching to the box.

And no, I'm not talking about Cobalt,

I'm talking about Matt Maxham pushing the bot out there.

One of the most energetic and intense drivers in the entire sport.

No doubt, Matt is as much of a machine as the bot he's pushing there.

Struggled out of the gate against Fusion but left nobody in doubt

after dismantling Ghost Raptor.

A win here would almost certainly lock them into a spot

in the world championship tournament.

Cobalt has a deadly combination

of a high powered weapon and a great driver.

We're going with a little bit longer forks, uh,

just to hopefully make sure we have the reach advantage on him.

Um, but other than that, it's pretty much just our standard packet.

I think a win here would guarantee us a spot in round of 32.

Uh, I think a close loss, we might still have a chance of getting in,

uh, but a win would definitely secure, uh, us a spot.

So Matt, he's our driver.

His importance to this team has been crucial.

He's getting more and more stick time and you can tell the difference

between the first fight and the second fight

that's he's really coming into this machine.

I think there's gonna be a couple of slamming into each other

and flying everywhere until Matt figures out an approach

that he can get up underneath him,

try to get onto his side of him.

In order for us to win,

we've got to get him up to our blade.

And he's an iron box, so even if you hit him,

I don't think you can hurt him.

So it's gonna be a really good fight.

Robots, activate.

Gruff's gonna come at you with plenty of flame and a sturdy gib.

And for more on Gruff, we bring in our bot whisperer Pete.

Gentlemen, there are many beautiful machined parts

here on these robots, but I'm going to show you one of my all-time favorites

because it relates to fire.

This.

This is a manifold, nozzle and venturi system all in one.

This is the key to giving Gruff the power of that fire that they have.

This venturi system's allowing to put so much oxygen

intermixed with that propane and burn, baby, burn.

You didn't put one of those in your car, did you, Pete?

No, but I put one in yours.

Ha! That's funny.

Robot, robot, robot, robot!

Red team, ready?

Blue team, ready?

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!

Let the bot battle begin.

Here comes Gruff and taking a serious shot from Cobalt.

Uh-oh, uh-oh, he better work your way back over, Gruff.

Its forks are stuck in a kill saw slot, but he gets out.

Gruff. Fortunate to survive there.

Oh!

Wow!

That was a shot that sent Gruff 12 feet in the air.

Cobalt, an absolute destroyer out there.

But it looks like Gruff barely felt that thing--

Get your pride, that's shot two.

Unbelievable how Gruff can take these shots.

Oh, my goodness!

That mad Max of a driver of Cobalt shooting Gruff

right into the driver side window so he can get a good look at it.

Yeah, so far, Matt Maxham looking like he's one with Cobalt.

Hanging back now is Gruff, looks to be having problems with his drive, Chris.

You know, Gruff's durability has been its super power,

but Cobalt looks... oh! Determined to put that to the test tonight.

Oh, I think he got the propane tank, Chris, look out!

Wow!

Cobalt just sent Gruff straight to hell!

That is filet mig-Gruff.

A tasty delicacy here in Vegas.

I'm not seeing any control, not seeing control.

Does Gruff have control?

I think that's gonna be it, Chris.

- Nine! - There it is, - Kenny Florian.

- Seven, six... - The countdown has - started and Cobalt is gonna

- wrap up its qualifying - action in style. - ...Three, two, one.

A fantastic performance by Cobalt,

which has been resurrected by Brett Rieker

and Matt Maxham.

- Kenny, Cobalt's - no joke. - No, not at all.

- This is - a very serious robot. - Wow!

Look at that launch.

I mean, that's one of the highest flips we have seen here at BattleBots.

Just ridiculous power.

And to do it against a bot that is as stout

and as tough and as durable as Gruff.

Then you throw in a little pulverizer shot on top of it.

- Perfect ingredients. - My goodness.

I mean, right now, Cobalt is hitting as hard as Uppercut and End Game.

They're able to get underneath their opponents repeatedly.

They're showing durability. I mean, look at that!

Then Gruff wanted more, it got more.

That is sensational.

Hey, Matt, can we just cut right to it?

What's it like throwing another robot 15 feet in the air on fire?

It's kinda cool!

It's something I haven't experienced much and so I'm beginning to like it.

Now I see what Ray gets out of this.

You guys were both 1-1 heading into this.

This was such an important fight,

not only to win, but to win impressively.

What do you think this does for your team here?

We'll let the committee figure that out.

The team itself, we're happy.

We're feeling the bot. We're comfortable with the bot.

But where they put us, they put us.

It's just gonna be a hard road from here on out.

I mean, it was a hard road to get here.

It's just gonna get harder.

Congrats, guys.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Well, in case there were any doubters,

let it be known that Cobalt is indeed the real deal.

It wraps the qualifiers with a record of 2-1

and will most certainly move on to fight for the giant nut.

As for Gruff, at 1-2 they will now be stuck watching and waiting

as the rest of the qualifying action shakes out.

Coming up, don't go chasing oceans.

Please stick to the ponds and the lakes that you're used to.

Will Duck! need a little TLC

as he floats into the dangerous waters of Riptide?

That's next on BattleBots.

We are back on BattleBots

and up next it's one of the cooler rookies out there, Riptide,