A hulking humanoid bot was filmed walloping influencer Frankie Lapenna in a match hosted by REK. Instagram/rekrobot See more of our coverage in your search results.
After besting us in everything from track-and-field to medicine, robots have proved they can literally kick our butts as well.
Viral footage showed the frightening moment that a hulking humanoid seemingly cleaned an influencer’s clock in the alleged inaugural man-vs-machine cage match.
The TikTok personality, Frankie Lapenna, has become well known for his Jackass-style stunts, including driving a motorbike into an office desk and playing cards within trample range of an angry bull.
However, the content creator seemingly bit off more than he could chew after battling a towering bipedal combatant representing REK, a San Francisco tech firm that stages bouts between remote-controlled bots.
“For the first time in history, a human faces off against a six-foot-tall robot,” said the announcer at the start of the grudge match. As Lapenna climbed into the octagon while wearing pads and a helmet, his coach confessed “I’m scared for you man.”
His fear appeared well-founded. While the human pugilist managed to land a few shots on the bulky battle droid — which bears an uncanny resemblance to “The Terminator” — they barely had any effect.
The synthetic kickboxer then retaliated by launching a barrage of body kicks, with the final one sending Lapenna to the canvas, appearing to end the exhibition.
Fight contract terminated….or so it would seem.
Viewers found this real-life Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em quite dystopian.
“Didn’t we have, like, 6 movies explaining why this is a bad idea?” exclaimed one commenter, seemingly referencing “The Terminator” franchise.
“Why is technology trying to kill us? Because we’re teaching it how,” warned another, while a third wrote, “This could’ve been a Black Mirror episode.”
Although some wondered how a real mixed martial artist would fare in a similar humanoid cockfight.Coincidentally, while it may not look this way from the footage, REK CEO Cix Live told the Daily Mail that Lapenna actually emerged victorious. Following the rough start, the pugilistic John Connor managed to unbalance the technological terror and eventually “rip its head off,” like something out of “Rocky” meets “Robocop.” He also came away from the fight miraculously unscathed aside from a hand injury he sustained from punching metal.
In fact, was one of three bouts Lapenna fought in this technological kumite, beginning with the fun-size Unitree G1 and culminating in brawls with two six-foot bipeds.
The battle bots in question are modified ENGINEAI T800, which aren’t designed for combat, but nonetheless pack a powerful kick — they deliver 850 pounds of force compared to 650 generated by the average adult.
While REK doesn’t want to spoil the results of the final fight, Liv claimed that Lapenna didn’t fare so well in this one.
