California commission halts Rek's human-vs-robot fights

On September 18, 2026, the startup Rek hosted a human-versus-humanoid-robot match in San Francisco. According to The New York Times, the human fighter was social media influencer Frankie LaPenna, who wore a helmet and protective gear and faced several humanoid robots in turn. The robots were operated remotely by human pilots through a VR system. cnBeta, citing reports, said LaPenna injured his hand in one round while striking a robot's metal frame. The California State Athletic Commission considered the event a boxing or mixed martial arts competition requiring regulatory approval, but it had not been approved.

On September 30, Rek founder and CEO Cix Liv posted the commission's cease-and-desist letter on social media, responding with a joking "we made it, guys." The letter ordered Liv and Rek to stop hosting, promoting, or advertising any boxing or MMA match or exhibition involving human participants in California without approval. Both The Verge and cnBeta noted that the letter targets events with human involvement; it does not require Rek to halt purely robotic events and does not explicitly ban robot-versus-robot fights. No report indicates the commission has obtained a court injunction against the company.

Rek's website still advertised a purely robotic event in San Francisco on October 9, featuring three robot fights, including armed robot combat, with tickets priced at $89. Because the participants are robots rather than humans, such events differ from the human-involved matches the cease-and-desist letter addresses, though that does not mean regulators have approved them. The reports also highlight a new question: when robots are remotely operated by people and humans remain competitors in the ring, whether such performances should be licensed and regulated under traditional boxing or MMA rules.