Don't Miss

ENG

Cricket
Football
NDTV Podcast
Formula 1
Tennis
Golf
- Badminton
- Kabaddi
- Boxing
- Athletics
- Chess
- Swimming
- Shooting
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Othersports
- NFL
- NBA
- NHL
- US Streamers
- MMA
- WWE

Dark / Light mode

Oct 9,2026 10:44 PM IST

World’s First Human vs Robot MMA Fight Goes Viral After 'Rekbot’ Knocks Frankie Lapenna Down

facebook

twitter

Settings

Change Font Size

A A
Change Language

हिंदी | Hindi
Focus on Story

Select Language

Languages
हिंदी | Hindi

Dark / Light mode

Featured Links
Featured Sports
- Cricket
- Football
- Formula 1
- Tennis
- Hockey
- Golf
- Badminton
More Sports
- Kabaddi
- Boxing
- Athletics
- Chess
- Swimming
- Shooting
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Othersports
More from NDTV
- NDTV
- Business
- Hindi
- Movies
- Cricket
- Health
- Food
- Tech
- Auto
- Apps
- Trains

NFL
NBA
NHL
FIFA
US Streamers
MMA
WWE
Golf

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Sports Home US Sports MMA Worlds First Human vs Robot MMA Fight Goes Viral After Rekbot Knocks Frankie Lapenna Down

Story ProgressBack to home

World’s First Human vs Robot MMA Fight Goes Viral After 'Rekbot’ Knocks Frankie Lapenna Down

Frankie Lapenna faced six-foot Rekbot in San Francisco for a human vs robot MMA fight. The robot floored him with a jumping kick, while footage showed a strange twist: Rekbot was being controlled by a human, despite its Terminator-like appearance.

NDTV Sports Desk
Updated: September 22, 2026, 7:01 AM EDT

Read Time: 2 min

facebook

twitter

E-mail

Six-foot Rekbot faces Frankie Lapenna inside the MMA cage in San Francisco.© X/@REK

Frankie Lapenna has taken part in what was described as the world's first human vs robot MMA fight, and the footage is already spreading fast. The San Francisco event put the social media personality inside an MMA cage against Rek Robotics' six-foot humanoid, Rekbot, which has a look straight out of The Terminator. Lapenna appeared to start well, but the fight changed when the robot landed a jumping kick to his body, sending him to the canvas. He could not get back up before the clip ended, while Rekbot shook out its limbs as if it had more to give.

We just made history with the first Human VS Terminator robot fight.

Frankie LaPenna gave it his all ???? More fight footage coming soon! pic.twitter.com/iADpv9d8Wg

— REK (@REK) September 20, 2026

How the first human vs robot fight played out

The matchup took place Monday night in San Francisco, with scores of people watching around the cage. Lapenna chose to test himself against Rekbot, a machine built by Rek Robotics and standing around six feet tall. Its bulky humanoid design also drew comparisons to the T-800 from The Terminator.

Lapenna appeared to start well, but that changed when Rekbot connected with a jumping kick to his body. He was bundled onto the canvas and could not get back up before the footage ended. The robot then shook out its limbs, giving the clip an unusual final moment as it looked ready to continue.

What happened after Rekbot dropped Lapenna

Rek said through its Instagram account that the robot had defeated Lapenna in front of the crowd. The footage showed the knockdown, but another detail later changed how people viewed the fight: Rek revealed that a human was controlling the robot.

So this was not a fully autonomous machine making its own decisions inside the cage. Still, the physical demonstration brought up questions about what increasingly capable robots could look like in sports and other areas.

That discussion also comes as robotics is becoming harder to ignore in sports. Another Chinese-manufactured robot had reportedly beaten Usain Bolt's 100m record the previous month.

Why the viral footage made viewers uneasy

The comments under the footage went in very different directions. Some viewers were in disbelief, while other were worried about the clip. One viewer said, “This can't be real wtf,” adding that a professional could do much better. Another said that “You went pretty easy on that robot.”

Others were far less comfortable. One person even wrote, “WHY WOULD YOU GIVE THEM COMBAT TRAINING?!?!” A different commenter joked that this was why they always say “please” and “thank you” when prompting AI chatbots.

For now, the fight stands as a strange showcase of a human taking on a humanoid machine, with one important catch: the robot that floored Lapenna was being controlled by a person rather than fighting independently.

Topics mentioned in this article

MMA

Get the Latest Cricket, Asian Games 2026, Football , Hockey, Badminton Scores, F1 Results at NDTV Sports. Like Us On Facebook Or Follow Us On Twitter For More Sports Updates. You Can Also Download The NDTV Cricket App For Android Or iOS.

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

Related Articles

World’s First Human vs Robot MMA Fight Goes Viral After 'Rekbot’ Knocks Frankie Lapenna Down

Frankie Lapenna faced six-foot Rekbot in San Francisco for a human vs robot MMA fight. The robot floored him with a jumping kick, while footage showed a strange twist: Rekbot was being controlled by a human, despite its Terminator-like appearance.

How the first human vs robot fight played out

What happened after Rekbot dropped Lapenna

Why the viral footage made viewers uneasy

Now Trending