NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Robot Combat League robo-tech Ross Mead.

A robo-tech controls the bottom half of the eight-foot tall robots, with the top half controlled by a robo-jockey, as these robots are sent to fight one another in the Robot Combat League.

When Ross Mead is not helping to smash giant robots, he is a PhD research student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, focusing, of course on robotics. While his goal there is to help develop robots which could assist people in their homes and daily lives, his experience in the Robot Combat League has left its mark on him.

"I was Iron Man," he said in this interview, which was recorded Wednesday on Skype. "You can't get away from the superhero aspect of this. I was driving this gigantic robot. No one can really say that. There are 24 people on the planet Earth who can say that right now. That's pretty incredible. That's really freaking awesome."

Adding that he already missed doing the show, whose episodes have already all been filmed, and that he would do it again, he said, "I wish everyone could experience it because it was absolutely incredible. It's a life-changing experience."

We get our first chance to see Ross Mead in action this coming Tuesday, March 12, when he teams with MMA fighter Andrew Montanez on the robot A.X.E. as it battles Game Over. In the other fight on that show, Robo Hammer, with MMA fighter Amanda Lucas as the robo-jockey, fights Drone Strike.

The Robot Combat League is telecast on the Syfy network in the U.S. and on Space in Canada.

Our discussion with him also touched on the relation of human fighting to robot fighting. He has some training in boxing and martial arts and is a fan of MMA, but he explained just how a background in human fighting is both "a blessing and a curse" for developing techniques for robot fighting. We discussed just where the technology is at now for robot fighting, some of the ethical questions of it as this new sport evolves, how many including boxing trainer Freddy Roach believe that robot fighting may one day replace or surpass human fighting in popularity, how he got involved with it, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Andrew Montanez, the host of the online video show MMA Surge.

Andrew Montanez has a strong background in the combat sports. He wrestled at Mineola High School in Long Island, New York, and then at Nassau Community College, as well as wrestling freestyle at the Empire State Games. He is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Although he is not currently an active fighter, he has fought numerous times in professional MMA, including Strikeforce where he was 1-1.

His latest foray into combat sports, however, was something quite different: Andrew served as a robo-jockey for an eight-foot tall robot named A.X.E. in the first season of the new Syfy network TV series called Robot Combat League.

The Robot Combat League features 12 state-of-the-art robots engaged in a tournament where they fight each other. The robots are controlled by a human fighter known as a robo-jockey and an engineer known as a robo-tech. The first season of the Robot Combat League, which premieres Tuesday, February 26, on Syfy in the U.S., has already been filmed.

We spoke with Andrew Montanez about the Robot Combat League and its relation to combat sports by phone Saturday.

"That's the main reason why I did the show. I saw the same vision. The sport's getting violent. We kind of need something else," he said in this interview. "I know a lot of girls that can't watch MMA because they can't watch people getting hit. But I brought a couple of them to the robot fights and they were like, 'This is awesome.' Because no one's actually getting hurt."

He continued, "The main reason I did this show was because I saw the potential and I wanted to be part of it," and to "try to see if we could start a new combat sport."

He did caution that there will be many factors determining the success or failure of the Robot Combat League, including the editing of the show, how the audience reacts to it, and how the fights actually look on television. "It's going to be a little bit of a process."

Still, he, along with many other people, are optimistic that the Robot Combat League can establish itself as a successful venture, be it as a replacement for combat sports involving humans or as a show existing alongside them.

We discussed what his tasks were as a robo-jockey, how he had an advantage over other robo-jockeys because he could utilize his combat sports skills to control his robot, why he believes that many fans of combat sports will enjoy the Robot Combat League, and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

"The Martist" with John Perretti. A "martist" is an artist as well as a martial artist. This is a blog for those who think about fighting, published by John Perretti, the lifelong martial artist and former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker. Check out John's writings at http://johnperretti.com.

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City February 16 and 17, 2013, for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, grappling, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17, 2013, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.