T-REK

T-REK is the robot that won the first ‘humanoid death match’ staged by the San Francisco league REK (Robot Entertainment Kombat) on 9 October 2026. It is a full-size humanoid of Chinese manufacture rebuilt for combat; mikekalil.com identifies the base as an EngineAI T800, while SF Standard only describes it as Chinese-made and modified for fighting.

The robot weighs 86.2 kg (190 lb), is styled after the Terminator and reaches more than six feet. Its defining feature is a pair of ‘Spartan’ blades made of AR500 steel, 25 to 50 cm long, developed by REK hardware chief Nick Dobrikov, a former BattleBots builder. A human pilot drives every movement with a gamepad; onboard AI handles balance only.

In the final at REK Arena, T-REK repeatedly knocked down and finally immobilised Rektile. About 100 spectators paid 69 USD each; cage panels tore and a camera lens was pierced. The single unit is not for sale: the base robot lists at roughly 40,000 USD according to mikekalil.com, which values REK’s converted units at 100,000 USD apiece. Status: active since October 2026.