Slashdot has reported:

California’s State Athletic Commission has ordered the organizers of a San Francisco cage fight between a human and humanoid robots to stop staging similar unsanctioned events. The Sept. 18 competition, called “Human Vs. Robot,” put influencer Frankie LaPenna against three remotely controlled machines in separate mixed martial arts-style bouts. Videos of the event drew more than 10 million views on YouTube.

On Sept. 23, the commission sent a cease-and-desist order to Robot Entertainment Kombat, or REK, its CEO Cix Liv, and “all persons holding, promoting, advertising or sponsoring unsanctioned human versus humanoid robot cage fight.” The letter said any boxing or mixed martial arts contest, match or exhibition involving a human in California requires the commission’s prior approval. Holding such an event without a state licence or permit is a misdemeanor, it said.

LaPenna, who is 5-foot-6 and 205 pounds, wore spiked gloves, a helmet and protective padding. He dominated his first opponent, identified at the event as “the child robot.” After the bout, he told an interviewer, “Clankers zero, humans one.”

His second opponent was an imposing humanoid inspired by the “Terminator” films. The fight video listed the robot at 6 feet and 200 pounds, with a kick force of 850 pounds. It landed several hard kicks, including one that sent LaPenna across the mat. Another impact brought the machine down and caused its head to come off.

LaPenna appeared to gain strength as the second match continued and ended it standing with one foot on the robot’s crumpled body. For his last bout, he faced a machine resembling the “Predator” from the films of the same name. He landed several punches and kicks and took it down multiple times, but eventually became tired and called for the match to end.

“He doesn't get tired. He doesn't stay down,” LaPenna said in a postmatch interview. The crowd numbered about 100 people, according to the New York Times, which described them as “humans, not humanoids.” The robots were controlled by human operators rather than programmed to respond with split-second reactions, and at times one appeared simply to fall over.

Ken Goldberg, a professor who oversees the automation lab at the University of California, Berkeley, said specialists in humanoid robotics strongly advise against fighting the machines. “It's very unfair to put a human in with a heavily motorized system that's only going to dominate,” he said. “There's nothing surprising about that....”

Goldberg said he understood the appeal of the fights staged by REK, which he said tapped “into some of the fear and frustration with robots that people feel.... I mean, they love to see the human kick the robot's gearbox,” he said. But he said the odds of a human fighter having his “gearbox” kicked were much greater, because REK’s humanoid robots can weigh several hundred pounds and are made of steel.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the commission, said in a statement emailed to the Los Angeles Times that the commission is “committed to protecting the safety of the public and integrity of combat sports.” The statement added: “Unsanctioned activity puts the physical and financial well-being of all those involved at risk and such activity will not be tolerated.”