‘Human vs. Robot’ cage match was a hit. State says event was illegal
A human defeated two of the three robots he faced in a cage fight recently held in San Francisco.
The humans behind that fight could face a battle of their own — the legal type — if they want to hold another event like “Human Vs. Robot,” the Sept. 18 competition that placed influencer Frankie LaPenna inside an octagon to battle three humanoid robots that were controlled remotely by a human operator in separate MMA-style fights.
REK (Robot Entertainment Kombat), the “humanoid robot fighting” company that staged the event, billed it as the “first human vs. robot fight in history.” Videos of the bouts have combined for more than 10 million views on YouTube.
Not everyone is a fan. On Sept. 23, the California State Athletic Commission sent a cease-and-desist order to REK, its CEO Cix Liv and “all persons holding, promoting, advertising or sponsoring unsanctioned human versus humanoid robot cage fight.”
The letter states that “any boxing or mixed martial arts contest, match, or exhibition, involving any human in the State of California” requires the prior approval of the commission and that it is a misdemeanor to hold such an event without obtaining a license or permit from the state.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the CSAC, said in a statement emailed to The Times that the commission is “committed to protecting the safety of the public and integrity of combat sports.”
“Unsanctioned activity puts the physical and financial well-being of all those involved at risk and such activity will not be tolerated,” the statement said.
An X post by Liv on Sept. 30 indicated he’s not overly concerned about the cease-and-desist order.
“We made it boys,” he wrote in the post, which also included a photo of the commission’s letter.
Liv said in an email to The Times on Tuesday that REK did not seek CSAC approval before the event “because the law clearly states it is not a real boxing match if it doesn’t include ‘two persons,’” rather than a human vs. a humanoid robot controlled by a human.
“So they can argue in court that actuators are somehow persons,” he said. “The case would give us nonstop media coverage, even if we incurred a fine.”
LaPenna also appeared to make light of the cease-and-desist order in a pair of X posts on Oct. 1.
“I fought a robot and within 12 days the state of California passes a new law saying no more robot vs. human fights,” wrote LaPenna, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.
He added in the second post: “Good work Cix, you disrupted the system.”
According to Liv, LaPenna pushed for the opportunity to face humanoid opponents in the cage.
“We felt the robots were ready to fight amateur fighters like Frankie, but not actual MMA fighters yet,” Liv said.
The 29-year-old content creator signed a full waiver of liability, but “we didn’t actually want to hurt him,” Liv added.
The written description accompanying a “Human vs. Robot” video posted on REK and LaPenna’s YouTube pages states that “there was no predetermined outcome, both Frankie and Nick, the robot operator were told to try their best.”
Wearing spiked gloves, a helmet and protective padding, the 5-foot-6, 205-pound LaPenna held his own against all three bots. He dominated his first opponent, referred to at the fight as “the child robot.” Next came an imposing “Terminator”-inspired humanoid, which was listed on the fight video as 6-feet and 200 pounds with a kick force of 850 pounds.
The robot landed several hard kicks, including one that knocked LaPenna across the mat and another with an impact that brought the humanoid to the ground and caused its head to come off — but the human seemed to gain strength as the match went on and eventually stood triumphantly with his foot on the machine’s crumpled body.
LaPenna was dominant early in his final match, in which he faced a robot that resembled a “Predator” from the movies of the same name. After landing several punches and kicks and taking his opponent to the ground multiple times, LaPenna eventually became fatigued and called for the match to be ended.
“He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t stay down,” LaPenna said in a postmatch interview. “Just keeps getting up. I thought he’d be dead.”
According to Liv, LaPenna emerged from the bouts basically unscathed. “The only damage he experienced was hurting his hand a bit by punching metal,” Liv said.
Since then, REK has turned its attention back to all-robot fights, although Liv said the company eventually plans to stage more human vs. humanoid bouts.
“We are avoiding it for now,” Liv said. “CSAC has no legal case but it may not be worth the battle. We may just do it in Vegas or a state that is less lame.”
