The fight billed as the world’s first human vs. humanoid robot cage match went viral in the days after the bout took place in California on September 18 under the Robot Entertainment Kombat (REK) banner. Now, however, the unusual spectacle that amazed users online has caught the attention of the California State Athletic Commission, which has ordered the promotion to stop holding similar events or face punitive action.
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The CEO and founder of REK, CIX (Cix Liv), shared online the official cease-and-desist order, dated 23rd September, from the CSAC executive officer Andy Foster, while celebrating the infamous milestone.
“We made it, boys,” Cix Liv wrote on X alongside a picture of the CSAC notice. “California sent us a Cease and Desist for ‘UNSANCTIONED HUMAN VERSUS HUMANOID ROBOT CAGE FIGHT.’”
The notice refers to the promotion’s first human vs. humanoid matchup in San Francisco on September 18.
The event featured 29-year-old internet influencer and content creator Frankie LaPenna taking on a six-foot-tall EngineAI T800 humanoid robot under the REK banner.
According to the CSAC notice, REK did not obtain the required license or sanctions from the commission before holding the event. The commission cited Business and Professions Code section 18640, which defines a combat match strictly as a physical harm contest between two or more persons, leaving robotic combat outside existing athletic commission definitions.
That means what may have looked like a futuristic experiment to viewers online still fell under the commission’s regulatory authority because an actual human fighter was involved.
The CSAC has now ordered REK to stop holding similar events. The notice also warns of potential penalties if the promotion continues to violate the relevant provisions of California law.
For REK, the notice creates a big problem for a promotion that has built its identity around increasingly unconventional combat-sports events.
For a while now, Robot Entertainment Kombat has primarily focused on robot-vs.-robot competitions.
In September 2025, the promotion held an event featuring bipedal robots roughly 4.5 feet tall, with UFC fighters including Jessica-Rose Clark and Hyder Amil attending to test some of the machines.
The latest event, however, took things a step further.
Instead of putting two robots against each other, REK placed a human inside the cage with a six-foot, 200-pound humanoid robot dubbed “Rekbot,” a machine modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic Terminator character.
LaPenna managed to land several strikes during the fight, but the robot eventually returned fire with a powerful push kick that sent the influencer flying. Footage showed LaPenna slamming hard into the canvas and the plastic-lined Plexiglas cage wall.
The sequence made for a dramatic moment, although the influencer did not appear to suffer a serious injury from the exchange.
REK subsequently celebrated the bout as a milestone for the promotion.
“We just made history with the first Human VS Terminator robot fight,” REK wrote on X. “Le Penna gave it his all.”
The event certainly generated attention online. However, the commission’s notice makes clear that the fight promotion violated state law under Code section 18640 by holding an event involving an actual human without prior approval from the commission, rendering the event unsanctioned.
As of now, the CSAC has formally demanded that the promotion stop holding such events in the future through a “cease and desist” notice. But if the promotion is found in violation of the state law again, it could invite punishment under Section 412, which entails financial penalties between $100 and $1,000 and imprisonment ranging from 30 days up to a year.
For now, there is no indication that REK’s robot-vs.-robot events are necessarily subject to the same issue. The commission’s action only centers on the inclusion of an actual human combatant.
That distinction could determine what comes next for the league.
REK has already shown that it wants to push combat sports into territory few traditional promotions have explored. But after California’s athletic commission stepped in, the organization will now have to figure out where, and under what regulatory framework, it can continue experimenting with human vs. humanoid competition. So, either they must stop holding such events altogether or move to a state where the legislature is not as stringent as it is in California.