REK said on X that Frankie LaPenna kept going and defeated Rekbot in a Sept. 18 bout the startup billed as the first human-versus-robot MMA fight. The 6-foot robot was remotely controlled by a human and knocked LaPenna across the ring with a kick.
The bout was staged as entertainment to promote REK’s virtual-reality robot game. Video also showed Rekbot quickly springing back to its feet after being knocked down or thrown off balance.
Boston Dynamics says its production-ready Atlas is designed for industrial work and is being deployed in 2026. The company opened a facility this week at Hyundai’s Georgia auto plant, where Atlas robots are being trained to handle and sequence parts for assembly. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 jobs report projected robots and autonomous systems would be the largest net technological job displacer through 2030, with an estimated net reduction of 5 million jobs. Current humanoids remain expensive and limited in unpredictable environments.
