You might be thinking, “What in the Black Mirror?” But, nope, this isn’t some dystopian fever dream. The world did, in fact, just witness what’s been called the first-ever MMA fight between a human and an actual humanoid robot. And if the odds didn’t seem unfairly stacked to begin with, said human wasn’t even an MMA fighter. In fact, he had no professional fighting experience at all.
In a detail that makes the whole thing that much more bizarre, the human in question was influencer and content creator Frankie Lapenna. You might recognize him by his distinctive mustache—or another equally exaggerated but entirely fake, erm, asset. If you’ve spent any time on TikTok or YouTube, there’s a good chance you’ve come across some of his work, where he’s built a following with visual gags and increasingly unhinged stunts reminiscent of the ones old Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O used to pull.
So, naturally, taking on a six-foot humanoid robot in a cage fight was the next logical challenge…
