California officials moved to stop a viral San Francisco cage match pitting an influencer against a Terminator-style robot, calling the unsanctioned bout a violation that will not be tolerated.
On September 18 in San Francisco, influencer Frankie LaPenna stepped into an octagon opposite a 6-foot, 200-pound humanoid built to look like the T800 from the Terminator films. The 28-year-old Michigander, who weighs 205 pounds, wore heavy facial protection, signed a waiver, and walked away the winner after two rounds.
Five days later the California Department of Consumer Affairs sent Robot Entertainment Kombat CEO Cix Liv a cease-and-desist letter. The state Athletic Commission said the contest was unsanctioned, that Liv never sought prior permission, and that hosting or promoting such a fight without licensing is a misdemeanor.
The episode captures a collision of spectacle, technology, and old combat-sports rules written for people, not machines. LaPenna had already built a large online following with silly videos. That night he faced three different robots. One kick from the T800-inspired machine, rated at 850 pounds of force, sent him barreling across the ring. He needed a few seconds to get back on his feet.
LaPenna smiled for photos beforehand and later described the night in blunt terms. He admitted fighting a robot was “insane” and posted that the machines were “one firmware update away from having the strength of Francis Ngannou and the technique of Islam Makhachev.”
On X he also wrote:
“Crazy timeline we are on right now.”
After the commission letter became public he added:
“Good work, Cix, you disrupted the system.”
REK’s robot carries a stated value of $100,000. The company has previously staged robot-versus-robot events in New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Japan, and Canada. Those bouts used human-operated machines and kept people out of the ring. The San Francisco card put a human directly against the hardware.
Liv posted the cease-and-desist to social media with the caption “We made it, boys.” He told The New York Times the company had no plans to recreate a human-versus-humanoid fight and said LaPenna had reached out to schedule it. His stated hope was simple:
“Our hope was to basically get some good shots without actually hurting Frankie.”
Liv also argued the letter was silly because the “law clearly states that a match is between two persons.” Regulators, he suggested, would have to stretch the definition to call a humanoid a human.
California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Andy Foster reminded Liv in the letter that it is a misdemeanor to host or promote any contest without proper licensing. The Department of Consumer Affairs deemed the fight a violation of the state’s boxing law. The Athletic Commission told the Daily Mail it stands by the finding that the bout was unsanctioned and “will not be tolerated.”
The same commission said it would consider new guidance as technology evolves. For now the rules remain the ones written for human fighters. No prior permission was sought. No fights are currently scheduled by the company.
An onlooker yelled “It’s nice knowing you!” toward LaPenna before the action. LaPenna still took the first two rounds and the win. The knockdown from the robot’s kick was the clearest sign of the force involved. Beyond that moment, no further injuries are detailed in the available accounts.
Combat sports in California fall under the Athletic Commission’s control for a reason: licensing, medical checks, and basic accountability exist to keep people from getting permanently hurt for entertainment. An unsanctioned cage fight skips those steps. That part of the enforcement is straightforward.
The harder question is the one Liv raised. Statutes that define a match as a contest between two persons were not drafted with glowing red eyes and metal fists in mind. REK had already run robot-only cards in multiple cities and countries. Putting a popular influencer in the cage turned a tech demo into a viral combat event and forced the state to respond after the fact.
LaPenna’s own posts framed the night as both absurd and inevitable. A 28-year-old with millions of followers on Instagram and YouTube signed a waiver stating the company would not be liable if he died, then climbed into the octagon against a machine that can deliver an 850-pound kick. He won. Regulators then closed the door on a repeat.
California’s message is clear enough: no license, no contest. Whether the underlying law needs an update for humanoid opponents is a separate debate the commission says it is willing to consider. Until then, the underground man-versus-machine card stays shut down.
When the rules still say “two persons” and a Terminator look-alike is already in the cage, regulators will always arrive late, and the public will keep watching the replay.
