CMG2026 Robot Mecha Fighting Competition: what CCTV's group has announced, and what it has not
The state broadcaster's humanoid fighting event has a three-part format, a recruitment call and a July teleoperation demo with Unitree, but no published date, venue or entrant list.
CMG2026 Robot Mecha Fighting Competition is the humanoid fighting event run by the China Media Group, the state broadcaster that includes CCTV. As of 26 October 2026 it has a format, a recruitment call and a technology demonstration, but no published date, venue or entrant list for any of its stages.
How it was announced. On 10 June 2026, at the broadcaster's fifth Global Media Innovation Forum in Chongqing, the group's Science and Education programme centre launched the event and began recruiting humanoid robot teams and operators worldwide, per the centre's own launch article. A full-size Unitree H2 humanoid performed a martial-arts routine at the launch. Unitree founder and CEO Wang Xingxing said in his keynote that Unitree's participation in the broadcaster's 2025 robot fighting event drew coverage from media in more than 100 countries, and that Unitree would use a newly upgraded full-size robot this year and invite other robot companies to join.
The format, as the organiser describes it. The event has three parts: a robot industry carnival, a fighting qualification phase, and a final called the Champion Night. The organiser describes a technical progression across the fights: first fights driven by hand-held controllers, then human-machine real-time motion-capture duels, then full-size robots with AI making their own decisions. The launch promised two firsts: a global first for human-machine collaborative motion-capture confrontation, and a first fighting appearance by full-size robots. Both are the organiser's own claims.
Scoring. Per the launch article, punches and dodges are to be captured and quantified by scoring gloves, flexible robot skin and what it calls the robot eye, so each exchange can be shown on screen. Scoring rules and weights have not been published in anything Roboxing has read.
What was shown in July. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, the event and Unitree publicly demonstrated a whole-body teleoperation system, according to a report on 19 July by Beijing Daily's website that credits the Science and Education centre. An operator in a full-body motion-capture suit moved, and a Unitree G1 beside them copied the movements. The organiser says the system samples human posture at more than 30 Hz, and describes the G1 as having 23 to 43 joints and a peak joint torque of 120 N-m. These are organiser figures and have not been checked independently. The demonstration was a technology showcase, not a fight.
Two ways in. The organiser says recruitment runs on two channels: robot companies and secondary-development teams bring a humanoid, and individuals or teams from any country can apply as operators. Registration is through the CCTV Science and Education WeChat account, by replying with the keyword for sign-up.
What is not known. No source read gives a date for the qualification phase or the Champion Night, a venue, a prize, the number of teams, or which robots besides Unitree's will take part. Both sources are the organiser's own material; Roboxing has found no independent report of the event beyond them. The Champion Night is listed on the site as a date-unpublished event, and this page will be updated if the organiser publishes one.
Why it matters. It is the only listed humanoid fighting event run by a national broadcaster, and, unlike the promoter-run leagues, it frames fights openly as a technology test: the organiser's own slogan translates as "the fighting ring is the test ground". It also explicitly includes teleoperated, motion-capture and autonomous fights under one banner, which makes it a useful event to watch for how those categories are labelled.