Arena971

One year to build. One night to fight.

Five teams will be selected for their motivation and their potential to take on the Arena971 challenge. The fortunate ones will receive a fully functional Unitree G1 robot, along with the instructions to turn it into a fighting machine. On fight night the robots compete fully autonomously: no real-time remote control and no human intervention during live rounds. The winner will take home the glory and the championship belt.

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From the UAE to the arena

University students get a rare shot at real hardware — a year to program it, learn from it, and prove themselves against other universities in the UAE. The robots must fight on their own: teams write the software in advance, and there is no live operator in the ring. Selected teams receive Unitree SDK access, usage guidelines, and training on how to repair their machine. Research labs, companies, and independent challengers can still apply, and they will not make the title easy to take.

Apply to compete

The five teams will be selected for their potential to get the most out of the robots. Motivation, a commitment to future editions, demonstrable programming ability, and experience on similar projects will be key in choosing the five contenders for the championship belt.

Train with a provided G1

Unitree provides five fully functional robots and the tools to program them through its proprietary SDK, repair them if they break in training, modify the hands — or even improve the machine, if you can. When the round starts, the robot must fight on its own.

Crown the first winner

This is not a conventional boxing match. Robots fight fully autonomously — no joysticks, no teleoperation, no live human control during rounds. Above all, the show will be judged. Referees will score how a team identifies its opponent and their weak points, how it recovers from falls, its precision, and even its celebrations — to name the winner of Arena971 2027.

Ready to apply?

Registration is open to everyone. Five teams will be selected to receive a robot and compete.