BattleBots

Robots activate.

Yes.

You look different.

Hey, everybody, and welcome

to the final night of the BattleBots 2021 world championship.

That's right. Eight teams have emerged

from the most competitive

and destructive year in the sport's history.

Tonight they have the opportunity

to walk away with the most prized possession in all of robot combat,

the giant nut.

I am Chris Rose, joined as always by UFC legend

and the best robot fighting analyst

ever to grace a microphone, say hello to Kenny Florian.

Thank you, Chris, look at the energy in this room.

We know the builders are nervous,

but it's almost like the bots themselves

can feel it's their last chance to show the world

what they're made of.

Sixty bots began the season,

but after getting dissected

decapitated, and pretty much blown to smithereens,

only eight remain.

And they are just three fights away

from reaching the mountaintop

And with the shocking exit

of last season's winners, End Game, in the round of 16

it means that at the end of the night,

a brand-new team

will be welcomed into the hallowed halls of BattleBots champions.

I cannot wait anymore,

so let's take a look at our round of eight match-ups.

The story of tonight,

young builder Aren Hill

with two bots in the top eight journey

Tantrum and Blip.

His original design, 2020 semifinalists Tantrum,

will face the mad man Matt Maxham,

who's looking to win a championship

in his first year on the sticks

for team Cobalt.

In Aren's latest creation, the rookie Blip,

will collide with the bad Bo of BattleBots,

Jake Ewert in Hydra.

The title of deadliest flippers on the planet

hangs in the bounce.

Tonight, you'll be seeing the Brazilian bull Minotaur.

They will be taking on Witch Doctor

in a championship-caliber match-up.

The 2019 runners up, Andrea and Mike Gellatly,

are looking to finally complete a lifelong dream.

While Minotaur is on a mission for redemption

after falling short in the 2018 final.

But we kick off championship night

with the highest remaining seed

and possibly the favorite to win it all...

Sawblaze, led by the laser focused Jamison Go

standing in his way,

twenty-year-old rookie captain

that's taken the sport by storm,

college freshman Ethan Kurt

and his doomsday device, Riptide.

You guys ready?

Faruq, take it away.

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?

It's robot fighting time.

In the red square from Tarzana, California,

stay out of the water against...

Riptide.

Whoa!

Look at these college kids.

Ethan Kurtz there with the glasses and the remote control.

Kenny, Riptide has impressed with knockouts of Shatter!

And the fifth seed, Uppercut in this most season.

That weapon has been brutal

Absolutely, and it's been that spinner

and the bot's incredibly low center of gravity

that's led to this unbelievable rookie season.

They have four KO's in just five career fights.

This bot is scary, Chris.

In the blue square from Cambridge, mass.

He's got a vertical saw to murder you all,

it's Sawblaze!

What a pair of decisions in this tournament

against high jinks and then eventually be won.

What is Jamison Go and team Sawblaze thinking tonight?

Well, Jamison believes that Ethan Kurtz and his team Riptide,

that they haven't experience

a whole lot of adversity in the BattleBots,

so they want to take away that confidence early.

They need to win the ground game,

scoop them up and deliver the pain.

There is no top armor on Riptide.

People would say, "oh, you beat Uppercut,

and Uppercut beat Sawblaze. This should be easy for you."

No. No, no, no, no, no.

Jamison learns from every single fight,

and he's twice as good as he was in 2020.

As soon as we land our first shot,

the fight is over for him,

but there's a lot of situations

where Jamison doesn't let people get a shot in.

And if you don't get a shot in, you don't beat Sawblaze.

Riptide seems like it's come out of nowhere.

I think I'd probably agree.

Our strategy is to keep in close,

keep that egg-beater weapon from spinning up.

In a perfect world, we get underneath them immediately,

we can reposition them on our forks,

come down hard on their batteries.

Ko, we always seem to end at top eight,

but this time we have the energy,

we have the spares, we have the personnel to go even further.

I hope we get to show everyone how far we can go.

Robots activate.

Red team, ready.

- Oh. - Just focus on popping them up to even lower.

Blue team, ready.

Slash and burn.

Come on, bring them rookies!

The scrappy freshman

the determined veteran.

A trip to the semifinals is on the line.

Let the bot battle begin.

- Oh, oh, Riptide is-- - Oh!.

Taking a serious Ja from Sawblaze,

that's what Jamison Go wanted.

He wanted to test the rookie early, Kenny.

He still has to be careful going into that weapon,

even from that position,

but this is a great start, Chris,

able to get underneath

if he can attack from the backside,

this is a great thing to ram that weapon right into the wall.

And Riptide gets flipped back over.

Oh, nice shot there with the weapon.

Uh-oh! Sawblaze has now got Riptide

pinned against the rails.

Oh, the hammer saw starts working, too.

Yeah, that's what he wanted, he wanted to atta from above.

He believes they are vulnerable.

Oh!

Amazing. Got him again.

Oh, and Riptide is back and it's hit for the second time on its back

This is where Sawblaze cannot let up.

Riptide is on its side.

Ethan turns his body stranded.

It's tryin' to spin its weapon,

but I'm not sure it can break free.

- Get us off! - Get us off!

Oh, my goodness,

a bad break for team Riptide

that bot is not stuck, it is tipped up on its side

and unless they can rock it back over, Chris,

they are gonna get counted out here.

And the rookie is in serious trouble.

Ten, nine...

After a stellar debut season

Ethan Kurtz is right into a bull's eye here in the quarter final.

And literally.

Team Sawblaze break through to the semi's

for the first time in its history.

Well Kenny, Jamison Go set the tone

from the very beginning.

- Wow! - Yeah, he really did, got right underneath

and started off with a huge hit,

and this was telling...

Those slope front forks on Sawblaze,

able to deflect that powerful energy from Riptide's weapon

didn't bode well for Ethan Kurtz.

Jamison waited until he had exactly the angle he wanted

before dropping the hammer saw.

Didn't wanna risk making contact

with that dangerous egg beater drum.

No doubt great Patience by the veteran.

And how about the durability of Sawblaze?

Playing with fire here,

going head to head with Riptide.

Lot of teams have come out on the wrong side of that exchange

but ultimately, that was th shot that did Riptide.

The rookie trapped on its side,

couldn't get the momentum it needed to right itself,

and that was all she wrote.

Sawblaze! Moving on.

Jamison Go!

For the first time ever...

You are going to the semifinals.

- Yeah! - Congratulations.

- More. - Whoo!

Jamison, you're smiling and laughing,

what's going on, brother?

We broke through,

I mean, this is a first for us.

This is new heights for team Sawblaze

so we are incredibly excited for this opportunity

and we're going to take it all the way. You better believe it.

Great job, Jamison. Congratulations.

- Thank you. - See you in the semis.

- Yes! - Whoa!

So, Jamison Go continues his dominant tournament run