Sabretooth

"What we've created... it scares me!"

- Gabriel Stroud

Sabretooth (originally referred to by the show as Sabre Tooth) was a competitor in Series 5 and 6, and later Series 8, 9 and 10 of Robot Wars, also withdrawing from Series 7. Despite boasting impressive weapons, it failed to progress beyond the first round in Series 5-8, either through poor reliability, severe damage from other opponents, or a faulty self-righting mechanism. Sabretooth's biggest achievement finally came in Series 9, where they reached the Heat Final despite taking tremendous amounts of damage along the way. It finished third in its heat during Series 10, qualifying for the 10 Robot Rumble.

Although the robot was not successful for its first appearances prior to reaching the Heat Final in Series 9, Sabretooth proved to be a recurring figure, consistently sporting the same name and aesthetics while competing in five different series total, and represented the UK in Robot Wars: World Series.

Sabretooth was named after the character of the same name in the X-Men comics.

Sabretooth (Series 5)
"Basically they got a moped, cut it up, welded lots of bits of metal to it, strapped on some motors and here it is!"

- Jonathan Pearce

The original robot was was built around a Honda Melody Scooter, and is dome-shaped through the use of its rollcage, in favour of a self-righting mechanism. The robot's weapon was a wide set of shredding blades that spun at 2400 RPM. Although the blades were fairly effective, the front chain was notably exposed. The robot itself was also somewhat slow, and its weapon proved unreliable in its only televised battle.

Sabretooth (Series 6)
In Series 6, a new Sabretooth armed with a large spinning disc weapon was built. However, its axle for the 13 inch cutting disc weapon broke during the qualifiers, so the team was forced to remove it. The damage came as a result of bending the chassis of a flipper-wielding opponent in its qualifier battle. The old axle was wielded back together, but it would no longer hold up the power of the disc, so the team instead equipped a large tyre for extra speed and mobility, and an improved drive engine, giving Sabretooth 12-horsepower push and allowing it to reach reported incredible speeds of 70 MPH (which would have made it the fastest robot in Robot Wars if these reports are true), in contrast to its former top speed of 12mph. The robot weighed 100kg, and was powered by 2 x 750w electric motors. The added speed given by the tyre didn't help against the weaponry of Terrorhurtz, and because of its thin aluminium armour and the petrol powering the weapon was on board, Sabretooth was eliminated in the first round.

Sabretooth (Series 7 withdrawal)
An all-new Sabretooth was built for Series 7, featuring a horizontal flywheel, capable of spinning at an incredible speed of 9000RPM, powered by a 125cc engine. In its qualifier battle, it teamed up with Disc-O-Inferno and took out Hannibal with a single blow whilst its ally defeated Hassocks Hog 2. Both spinners survived despite Disc-O-Inferno accidentally damaging Sabretooth when flipped by Hassocks Hog 2. Sabretooth lost the judges' decision to Disc-O-Inferno, but received a discretionary place. However, the team was asked to tone down the power on their disc, and were unable to comply in time for the show, so they were forced to withdraw.

"It was a bit over the top!"

- Gabriel Stroud, on their Series 7 weaponry

Sabretooth (Series 8)
The team returned in 2016 to compete with a brand-new version of Sabretooth. The robot had three weapons, including an overhead claw at the front, which also doubles as the robot's srimech. The claw had a steep wedge plate underneath it, referred to on the Robot Wars website as a 'flipper', and a 22kg aluminium spinning drum at the back, spinning at 4500RPM, which emitted an ominous scream at top speed.

Sabretooth's wedge was later reused on the front of JAR, entered into Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars under the mentorship of Gabriel Stroud. Sabretooth itself also made a brief cameo appearance in Episode 1 of Battle of the Stars, during Stroud's introduction.

Sabretooth (Series 9)
For Series 9, another brand-new version of Sabretooth was built, this time with two-wheel drive, steel armour and a larger three-toothed, 7,000rpm drum weighing 25kg, powered by a 80cc Rotamax. The Series 9 Sabretooth was now invertible to circumvent the Series 8 version's self-righting issues. Its design was inspired by a 'rocket powered industrial quarry robot' according to the official Robot Wars website, with its rear end having a circular section modelled on the exhaust of a jet aircraft. However, it was comparatively slow at 9mph.

The top armour of Sabretooth was the same type of scoop previously seen in the last version of Sabretooth and JAR, although Series 8's Sabretooth is known to have another scoop. This Sabretooth was also decorated with a custom-made gear, using the Team Legion name, and the names Gabe, Esme, Rob and Al.

The exhaust pipe at the rear of Sabretooth was planned to be a flamethrower, and the robot still contains some components used to power the flamethrower, but ultimately the weapon was not completed as insurance could not be acquired to run this type of weapon in the arena.

Sabretooth (Series 10)
"This time, aside from winning, I want respect, and admiration. I will stop at nothing to be the next Robot Wars champion."

- Gabriel Stroud

Series 10's Sabretooth took the invertible drum spinner design of the previous Sabretooth, and optimised it for greater efficiency, greatly resembling the team's featherweight Sabre20. The team's signature metal scoop was recreated in the form of a flat armour panel on top, designed to cushion axe blows. Sabretooth's wheels were now protected by angled sides, making them less exposed to attacks from spinners, and the robot runs more easily when inverted due to its flatter top. Sabretooth's rear exhaust pipes were still present despite having no function. Sabretooth's drum weighed 22kg, and had three teeth, maintaining its top speed of 7000rpm, allowing the robot to willingly 'gyro-dance'. The robot was now considerably faster at 15mph, and its armour consisted of 3.2mm HARDOX and layered HDPE. It retains the badge with the team members on it, this time located behind the drum instead of on the top.

To remedy Sabretooth's issue of running out of spare parts in Series 9, Team Legion brought spare components for every piece of Sabretooth to the filming of Series 10, including a chassis and complete armour panels, essentially meaning that they had brought 'two Sabretooths' to filming. However, the brushless motors used in the updated Sabretooth limited the ability of the untested drum spinner, as the team could not run it for extended periods of time without overheating the robot. As a result, Sabretooth was forced to result to its motors that the team used in Series 9, starting with the 10 Robot Rumble, and for both of its fights in Robot Wars: World Series.

Series 5
"To me, Sabretooth looks a bit cumbersome, a little clumsy..."

- Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle

In its debut fight, Sabretooth fought a fellow newcomer in the first round of the Fifth Wars, fighting the wooden entry Evolution. Sabretooth started tentatively, edging towards Evolution while both robots were spinning their weapons. Evolution's weapon made first contact, and dragged Sabretooth backwards. While Evolution was on the offence, Sabretooth turned in place and used its spinning blades to cut into the wooden armour of Evolution. Despite causing damage, this caused Sabretooth's blades to jam, leaving the robot without a weapon. "Snagging the Sabretooth teeth! You can see them whirling away, caught on the body of Evolution, and then stopped turning, a worry then for Rob Pickford and Gabriel Stroud at the controls of Sabretooth."

- Jonathan Pearce

The unarmed Sabretooth was then pushed back into the arena wall, although it responded by ramming into Evolution as Sir Killalot left its CPZ. Sabretooth attempted to push Evolution onto the flame pit, but became beached on the tank-like robot and could not drive away until it was freed by the House Robot. Sabretooth then took evasive action as Sgt. Bash illegally strayed out of its CPZ to cut into the body of Evolution, damaging its drive system. While Sabretooth continued to stay in safer confines of the arena, Sir Killalot immobilised Evolution by picking it up, bending the weapon, and placing it in the centre of the arena for Sabretooth to attack with a slam. Time expired, and 'cease' was called at the end of the battle. In spite of Evolution's immobility, the battle was sent to a Judges' decision, as Evolution was deemed to have been attacked unfairly.

"When SabreTooth bites, he'll turn out your lights!"

- A banner held by an audience member

In a close decision, the Judges ultimately voted in favour of Evolution, causing Sabretooth to fall in the first round.

Series 6
"More problems, the aluminium body has thing as pipe armour. Presumably the petrol from the weaponry is still on board as well, and flammable. This Sabretooth could soon be extinct!"

- Jonathan Pearce, with little faith in Sabretooth

In the first round of Sabretooth's heat in Series 6, it fought the experienced John Reid and his robot Terrorhurtz, alongside A-Kill and Reptirron The Second. However, after breaking its spinning disc in the qualifiers for Series 6, Team Sabretooth had to compromise and equip their robot with a large tyre in place of its active weapon, which supposedly increased the robot's top speed to 70mph at the expense of having no damage output.

Sabretooth first engaged with Reptirron the Second while the impressive Terrorhurtz was focused on attacking A-Kill. Not long afterwards, Reptirron the Second showed signs of immobility, while Sabretooth drove dangerously close to the jaws of Growler, and an angle grinder. Sabretooth's increased speed was not evident, as it showed little purposeful movement, and then exposed its back end to Terrorhurtz, allowing the destructive axe to reign down blows on the framework of Sabretooth. It was pushed into the arena wall, and after enough blows from Terrorhurtz, it became clear that Sabretooth had been immobilised, and it was left alone.

"Sabretooth, we wondered and worried about all the way through, they're being counted down. ...Well Sabretooth, all the damage was done, really before they came into the arena."

- Jonathan Pearce

Sabretooth was counted out by Refbot, and Growler positioned it on the floor flipper, which tossed Sabretooth onto its wheel. Having won the battle alongside A-Kill, Terrorhurtz landed further blows on Sabretooth. Finally, Shunt dropped Sabretooth into the pit, and 'cease' was called on the robot's second loss.

Series 8
Sabretooth's participation in Series 8 was first officially revealed through the second teaser trailer, which shows Team Legion admiring their robot to the theme of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You, before showing clips of Sabretooth in its first round battle.

In the first round, Sabretooth met Storm 2, Terror Turtle, and Eruption. However, the robot faced immediate difficulty, as its claw weapon, which also functions as Sabretooth's self-righting mechanism, was broken in the process of repairs. "When we were trying to fix it, it broke! So don't tell anyone, we can't self right!"

- Gabriel Stroud

Compromising for the lack of a srimech, Sabretooth's tactics were to spin the rear drum up to full power, and make itself unapproachable to flippers, pushing its opponents aside. It bravely targeted Eruption to try and dispose of the flipper first, and landed a glancing blow, but was tossed when Eruption snuck underneath the drum, with Sabretooth luckily landing back on its wheels. Sabretooth was not discouraged, and it buffeted Eruption, but when it was flipped once more by Eruption, it landed on its back. With Sabretooth unable to self-right due to its broken claw, it was rendered immobile, and was left alone until 'cease' was called.

Sabretooth was nearly required to fight a second battle in the heat, when Team Eruption were struggling to repair their robot in time for its match against Apollo. Had Eruption dropped out, Sabretooth would have filled its place, but ultimately Eruption made it to the arena. Gabriel Stroud was also required to sell one of his spare motors for use in PP3D, which also may have faced withdrawal.

Series 9
Sabretooth competed in Heat 1, where it fought the new robot from a Grand Finalist team, Aftershock, as well as the experienced Crank-E and Dutch entry TMHWK. Angela Scanlon immediately spoke to Team Legion about their lack of a televised win.

Sabretooth was intentionally evasive at the start of the battle, allowing Aftershock to immobilise Crank-E, only challenging TMHWK when Team Dutch Robot Girls approached it. Sabretooth quickly won this battle, immobilising TMHWK with a side-on charge, ripping shards of its HDPE side panel away, eventually tearing it off completely. Wedged under TMHWK, Sabretooth drove it across the arena and into Shunt. Sabretooth sent one of TMHWK's front wedges flying, and the beaten machine was turned over by the arena spikes. Both defeated robots were counted out, but Sabretooth drew too close to Shunt, and the House Robot beached it on the arena wall. As a result, Team Legion were unaware that they had earned their first victory in Robot Wars.



The jubilant Team Legion qualified for the second round, where their first opponent was Terrorhurtz, in a rematch from Series 6. Sabretooth raised its ground-scraping wedge for this battle, as it was limiting the robot's control in the previous fight.

When activate sounded, Terrorhurtz charged Sabretooth, which was slow in spinning up its drum, although it scattered sparks once it started spinning, sustaining axe blows in the process. After this, Terrorhurtz drove into the arena wall, a mistake which Sabretooth capitalised on, throwing Terrorhurtz's axe rest panel aside, flipping the robot up, and burying the spinning drum into Terrorhurtz's weaker back end. Both robots met again in the centre of the arena, and Sabretooth threw Terrorhurtz skyward, then remained underneath the falling Terrorhurtz to damage its underside. "All of a sudden, Sabretooth, after sixteen years of misery and hurt, are looking delightful! They didn't even know they'd won the previous bout, so unused to victory!"

- Jonathan Pearce

However at this point, smoke poured out of Sabretooth, and the drum also stopped working after losing a huge chunk. Sabretooth needed to use tactical driving to sneak around the back of a limping Terrorhurtz, which had also lost drive to one side. Sabretooth could not push Terrorhurtz effectively, and drove in front of it to receive an axe blow. Team Legion then realised Terrorhurtz's immobility, and pressed the pit release button in the hopes that Rogue House Robot would be activated. Their wish was granted, and after an attack from the rogue Shunt, and a follow-up hit from Sabretooth, Terrorhurtz was rendered immobile, and Team Legion earned 3 points for a knockout victory. "That was a stupendous fight! Crazy, crazy fight!"

- The elated Team Legion

The team could not remain cheerful for too long, as they then discovered the significant damage that their drum had sustained. Robert Pickford was required to bend steel rings out of metal off-cuts to wrap around the drum, supporting the chunk that had come loose in the last battle. Sabretooth's drum was fixed in time for its second encounter with Aftershock.

Sabretooth made a driving error in the face of Aftershock, exposing its wheel and losing shreds of armour, before a second error saw Sabretooth drive over the floor flipper, where it was turned over. The normally invertible robot could not move due to the damage sustained to its body-shape. Aftershock used its spinner to right Sabretooth, but caused further damage, and ripped away its top armour. "Oh they need a good drummer out there. Phil Collins anywhere? No, he's not here!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sabretooth was now in great peril, and pressed the pit release, causing the pit to descend. This gave Aftershock a chance to inflict the killer blow on Sabretooth, turning it over and showering sparks. Although Sabretooth was immobile, Team Shock did not realise this, and landed another barrage of hits, barrelling Sabretooth through the air. Off-screen, the punishment continued as Sir Killalot lifted and damaged Sabretooth even more. "I feel a bit funny after Aftershock..."

- Gabriel Stroud responds to Angela Scanlon's sympathy

Sabretooth had lost the battle with a huge amount of repairs now needing to be made. Broken components included Sabretooth's motors and speed controllers, and its drum was still in need of repairs before the battle had even begun. Team Shock would later apologise for the extensive damage they caused. After hours of hard work, Sabretooth entered the test arena to see whether or not the robot would be functional for a battle with the reinstated Jellyfish. Although the team accidentally wired their drum to spin in the wrong direction, Sabretooth was fit to enter the arena. "Two hours ago, I think that was in pieces. So many people helped... we're back on track, thank you!"

- An emotional Gabriel Stroud thanks the roboteers in the pits

Although Sabretooth got its weapon up to speed, it could not damage Jellyfish, as the weapon was spinning in the wrong direction. Jellyfish hugged Sabretooth on two occasions, and Team Legion could only drive their robot over the top of Jellyfish. Sabretooth was idle in the centre of the arena, and it was gripped by the clamp of Jellyfish. Eventually breaking free, Sabretooth's drum hit the surface of Jellyfish, and became stuck on its back pole. Sir Killalot separated the two robots, but both were stuck on the surface of the slightly lowered pit, and could not escape until 'cease' was called.

"Who is the quick, or the dead? Well neither of them were the quick, let's be honest! This is gonna be close!"

- Jonathan Pearce

The battle was sent to an adjudication, and Dara Ó Briain revealed that this was in fact a split decision. However, despite one Judge voting in favour of Sabretooth, the battle was ultimately won by Jellyfish. This left Sabretooth with a total of three points at the end of Round 2, tied with Terrorhurtz. Because Sabretooth defeated Terrorhurtz in their head-to-head battle, Team Legion qualified for the Heat Final. "I think this time round, we'll give the Aftershock boys a little taste of their own medicine!"

- Pre-battle confidence from Gabriel Stroud

Sabretooth entered the Heat Final without a working weapon, so it attempted to hit Aftershock before the vertical spinner got up to speed, but this attack was not fast enough, and Sabretooth was punted towards Sir Killalot. The House Robot held Sabretooth over the flame pit, and Aftershock attacked it while it was in the air. Sabretooth's one functional wheel could not gain purchase on the arena floor, and after being thrown by Sir Killalot, Sabretooth stopped completely. Will Thomas did not power down Aftershock's weapon, but held off to see if Sabretooth was immobile. Sabretooth showed signs of life, but Gabriel Stroud seemingly wished to play dead to avoid further punishment.

"Don't, because they'll hit you!"

- Gabriel Stroud, when Robert Pickford controlled Sabretooth

After another hit, Sabretooth was finished, and it was counted out. An emotional episode had come to a close for Team Legion, and the sixteen-year wait resulted in a Heat Final finish. Sabretooth remained in contention for a wildcard position in the Grand Final, but this was awarded to Apollo, eliminating Sabretooth from the competition. "We rebuilt it twice in the pits, pretty much from scratch, and the fact that we've got to this point is, I think, an amazing feat of skills, engineering, everything, and it's all down to these guys. We've had an amazing ride, and it's been... really good!"

- An emotional finish for Team Legion

Series 10


Sabretooth returned in Heat 1, where it would face the newcomer Donald Thump, and veteran Behemoth. Before the battle, Team Legion revealed to Angela Scanlon that they had brought a second complete version of Sabretooth, which was hiding under the table, although in the interest of fairness, the team were required to disassemble their second Sabretooth. "I'd like to see us v Carbide in the Grand Final. We've gotta win the series!"

- Gabriel Stroud

Behemoth quickly challenged Sabretooth at the beginning of the fight, but Sabretooth responded by rolling Behemoth over using its spinning drum. Donald Thump put its weapon directly against Sabretooth's, although the drum of Sabretooth removed an eye from Donald Thump at the expense of the drum's momentum. Sabretooth fled to try and spin up its weapon, bumping Behemoth, but turned straight into Donald Thump, which ripped the side armour of Sabretooth up. It retaliated by slamming into the face of Donald Thump, loosening it, and grazed the scoop of Behemoth before being flicked away, while Donald Thump became immobile.

Sabretooth chased Behemoth across the arena, and hit the bucket weapon head-on, rebounding away into the Arena Tyre, which activated the pit, and Sabretooth barely missed driving over it. With great momentum, Sabretooth crashed into the front of Behemoth, knocking out its opponent's safety link and immobilising it. However, despite this KO, the steep shape of Behemoth caused Sabretooth to be overturned by the same attack, and due to the earlier damage from Donald Thump, an otherwise mobile Sabretooth could no longer place its wheels on the arena floor. In an effort to show mobility, Sabretooth span its weapon and wheels, but the battle was sent to a Judges' decision to decide a winner between Sabretooth and Behemoth.

"You smashed into each other, and it was that impact which totalled you both!"

- Dara Ó Briain

The Judges declared that Behemoth had won the battle based on its overall performance, and Sabretooth would be knocked into the Redemption Robot Knockouts. Gabriel Stroud was displeased with the result, stating that he felt 'a little bit robbed', believing that he deserved the win for the Group Battle.

In the Redemption Robot Knockouts, Sabretooth fought newcomer Apocalypse. Gabriel Stroud reluctantly handed the controller to Rob Pickford for him to drive Sabretooth in the head-to-head battle. The exhaust pipes were removed from the back of Sabretooth.

Sabretooth made a driving error in the opening stages, presenting its back end to Apocalypse, and Team Asgard fired their weapon repeatedly, hitting Sabretooth in sequence, and also loosening its front wedge, causing Sabretooth to attack its own armour panel as it was pushed back. Gabriel Stroud strongly encouraged his teammate to start landing hits. "Look at Gabriel, he's a nice guy, but Robot Wars has created a monster in him!! He's so determined! He just wants to create mayhem out there! He wants the victory at all costs!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sabretooth was edged towards Shunt by Apocalypse, where it struggled to escape, until it eventually drove towards the Arena Tyre to active Fog of War. While Team Legion were blinded by the fog, Sabretooth drove over the floor flipper, and was tossed across the arena. Sabretooth was still receiving blows from Apocalypse, but finally landed a side-on attack. "Whack him! Whack him, drive into him, hit him!"

- Gabriel Stroud during the battle

Apocalypse struggled to leave its own circumference, but Sabretooth had also lost power to its drum, which it had hardly used throughout the battle, and a revived Apocalypse landed further blows on Sabretooth. Spurred on by his team captain, Rob Pickford slotted Sabretooth underneath a grabbing arm of Apocalypse, and used its improved drive system to smash Apocalypse into the arena wall, immobilising it in a come-from-behind victory. Pickford was aware of this victory, and challenged Shunt momentarily, although Gabriel Stroud continued to order the driver to attack Apocalypse until smoke started pouring out of the beaten robot.

'Cease' was called and Sabretooth had progressed to the next round, ensured of at least two more battles. Dara Ó Briain called Gabriel Stroud 'lucky' for winning.

In its next battle, Sabretooth fought former champion Apollo. Team MAD considered Sabretooth to be their biggest threat within the heat, but Team Legion were similarly cautious. Curiously, Sabretooth still lacked its rear exhaust pipes. "Apollo's looking really really strong, and obviously he has been a previous champion, so it's going to be a tough one to crack!"

- Gabriel Stroud

Sabretooth got its drum up to speed, and damaged the wedge of Apollo, but was flipped in response, and edged into Sir Killalot's CPZ. While the drum was struggling to gain momentum, Sabretooth fled from the pursuant Apollo, tricking the chasing robot into flipping itself over, but Sabretooth could not capitalise, and drove dangerously close to the arena wall, where it was flicked up. Sabretooth continued to flee, unable to assert itself. "Sabretooth's fighting for its life here, isn't it?"

- Professor Noel Sharkey

Sabretooth caused some sparks by attacking Apollo's wedge, but caused little damage, and its drum ceased again, so Sabretooth used the Arena Tyre to activate Rogue House Robot. Sabretooth was already close to Dead Metal, so it was gripped and held against the arena wall, and very nearly sustained a direct attack to the wheel from Dead Metal's saw. When freed, Sabretooth continued its tactic of running away to try and gain speed on the spinning drum. "Such a good driver, so knowledgeable about robots, about what it takes to win in the arena, but can his machine win against the redoubtable Apollo?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sabretooth drove directly over the top of Apollo, but was launched into an empty CPZ by the flipper. Sabretooth's efforts to flee only saw it flipped into Dead Metal, and after an attack to the side of Apollo which caused no damage, Sabretooth drove too close to the arena wall, and Apollo flipped it out of the arena. After Sabretooth's second loss in the heat, it would have to compete in a third place playoff for survival. Team Legion were consoled by a group hug with Team MAD. "One split second, one lapse in concentration, one Robot Wars campaign over!"

- Jonathan Pearce

In order to qualify for the 10 Robot Rumble, Sabretooth would need to defeat four-part clusterbot The Swarm, which had applied an anti-spinner wedge to its invertible robot Skye, and also deployed their anti-spinner unit. Gabriel Stroud was particularly enthusiastic about the idea of qualifying for the 10 Robot Rumble, and threatened to defeat The Swarm at all costs. "You know what, I'm playing to get into the 10-way!"

- Gabriel Stroud

Sabretooth slowly spun its drum up to speed, and sustained a blow from the bar spinner of Blenda, but threw the invertible Skye across the arena. A strong follow-up attack sent Blenda skidding across the arena, and a third blow flipped Blenda onto the flame pit. This once again silenced the drum of Sabretooth, tearing a hole in the front of Sabretooth. It was lifted by Rubber Duck, but knocked Blenda away using its greater weight against the active bar spinner. Sabretooth drove over the arena spikes, but when trying to attack Sabretooth, the spikes rocketed into the air and were strewn across the arena floor. Sabretooth continued its assault and barged Blenda into other units of The Swarm, and then drove it over the floor flipper, where both Blenda and Sabretooth were turned over.

"Take on the arena hazards at your peril! First Sabretooth, then Ian Watts' Blenda, up up and away!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sabretooth continued to bump into The Swarm's robots without the use of its drum, even using the broken arena spikes as a form of attack, and eventually charged the anti-spinner version of Skye into the angled arena wall, where Skye became stuck. Sabretooth would need to defeat a further two units from The Swarm to earn a win by KO, but it instead drove into Shunt, and was lifted into the same position as Skye, and struck with the axe. "Oh no, why have they gone in there, Sabretooth? Why go in there, that's suicide!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Despite Sabretooth's questionable driving, both Rubber Duck and Blenda had lost mobility, meaning that Sabretooth had immobilised enough robots to win the battle outright, as it slammed the active Skye into the arena wall. Not enough time remained on the clock for The Swarm to officially be deemed immobile, so the battle was sent to a Judges' decision. Regardless, Sabretooth easily won the decision on the basis of its opponent being immobile, and earned its place in the 10 Robot Rumble.

"If it's the other way round, I'm gonna be calling out Professor Noel Sharkey, he'll be down here, and then I'll make him retire!"

- Gabriel Stroud shortly before receiving his win

In the 10 Robot Rumble, Sabretooth faced Apollo, Big Nipper, Concussion, Eruption, Expulsion, Iron-Awe 6, Terrorhurtz, Thor and Track-tion all at once, with room for only one victorious robot.

"I'm so excited and looking forward to doing the 10-way, that we'll go all-out to do that, even if we do nothing else, to do a 10-way battle on Robot Wars with so much carnage and robots flying everywhere, and bits and chunks, and if we can go through that and plough the field, which is what we really plan to do, just to have them all blasting off us - what could be better than that?"

- Gabriel Stroud ahead of the 10 Robot Rumble

Sabretooth played an explosive role in the rumble. Though it remained out of the action early on, it charged up to the cluster of Apollo, Big Nipper and Concussion. First, it snagged a hit on Apollo as it was being lifted by Big Nipper, overturning the former champion by throwing it high into the air. As Apollo was thrown upwards, Sabretooth clipped Concussion's drum and disabled it for the rest of the battle. To top off its dominance in the group, it pressured and pummelled Big Nipper into the side wall. At this stage, Expulsion, Track-tion, Iron-Awe 6 and Concussion had fallen.

Sabretooth made another attack on Apollo, but the former champion was prepared and hurled Sabretooth into the side wall. The next attack was more successful, as Sabretooth tore off the top of Apollo's flipper and exposed the innards. After a few more battering blows on Apollo, Sabretooth switched its attention to Eruption and began grinding at the face of the flipper, throwing sparks. Sabretooth attacked Terrorhurtz, clipping the edges while not being fazed by its opponent's entanglement devices, though it did not find the success of its Series 9 attacks. Sabretooth was becoming a fierce presence in the battle, without having taken any serious attacks, but in the height of its prowess skidded near the Pit and fell in, leaving only four robots in the rumble. "I was power sliding around it and the arc caught me out. Lucky for us as the fight lasted 4.5 mins and our lipos were about to give up the ghost."

- Gabriel Stroud

Sabretooth also represented the United Kingdom in Robot Wars: World Series, and entered the arena brandishing the Union Flag on its back end. In the Tag Team round, it partnered with Terrorhurtz to battle the Portuguese Rabid M8, and the Irish Diotoir. As Diotoir was to battle for the Rest of the World first, the combined Team Legion and Team Hurtz elected to allow Terrorhurtz to start the battle, while Sabretooth waited in an empty CPZ.

This decision proved worthwhile, as Terrorhurtz was able to disconnect Diotoir's removable link with a single axe blow, and after Terrorhurtz inflicted further damage, it tagged Sabretooth, allowing it to attack Rabid M8. This encounter was similarly short, as Sabretooth collided with the side of Rabid M8's weapon using its drum spinner, also directly hitting its exposed tyre in sequence, and immediately immobilised the Portuguese robot by removing its own link. While both international robots were being counted out, Sabretooth pushed Rabid M8 backwards until it was officially eliminated. As a result, the British side earned three points for their team in prompt fashion. "I didn't even hit him, we didn't hit him very hard!"

- Gabriel Stroud

In Sabretooth's head-to-head battle, it fought the Belgian representative Cobra, which had been equipped with a defensive lifter and entanglement devices in order to nullify Sabretooth's drum. Sabretooth, decorated with fur from Diotoir, attempted to spin up its weapon, but was slowed by the wedge of Cobra. Sabretooth quickly used the Arena Tyre as a tactic, which activated Fog of War, allowing Sabretooth to drive around the arena, but was deflected when it struck the wedge of Cobra. Sabretooth was forced to flee, while Cobra activated Rogue House Robot. This caused Sir Killalot to chase Sabretooth, and Cobra rammed into the vulnerable machine to overturn it. Sabretooth again exposed its back end to Cobra, which slammed it up, and then drove it into the corner of the arena to throw it from the ground. Slammed into another corner, Sabretooth did not flee, and instead proceeded to 'gyro-dance' using the forces of its drum to balance on its side, and eventually caused Sabretooth to self-right.

Sabretooth then returned to its attack, and hit the wedge of Cobra, but was again barged back into the wall. In one attack, Sabretooth was flung into the air, but damaged Cobra's tyre by landing on it with the spinning drum. Sabretooth was briefly stuck on top of Cobra after another slam. Skidding into Sir Killalot, Sabretooth also drove into the wall, but was righted by Cobra in another charge against the wall. Sabretooth started to assert itself more, and finally struck the back end of Cobra after it had driven into Dead Metal, but Sabretooth was again turned over by Cobra's speed. Sabretooth attempted to self-right by gyro-dancing, but was caught by Sir Killalot, only succeeding at self-righting when Cobra collided with its drum. Within the final seconds, Sabretooth was held against the wall once more, and delivered to Sir Killalot before 'cease' was called. "Oh we love this! And Sabretooth dances on. In super slow-mo, it looks even better..."

- Jonathan Pearce on Sabretooth's gyro-dance

The battle was sent to a Judges' decision, which was unanimously awarded to Cobra. Although Sabretooth was responsible for the first loss of the UK team, the British representatives ultimately won the tournament, and Gabriel Stroud was very pleased with the battle. "That fight was amazing, I think that's one of our best fights. And, you see our pirouette? Our dance? What could be better than that, we should've won on that alone! It is Strictly Come Dancing, there was an amazing dance, we did lots of damage, and you know what, I don't care if we didn't win, because that was the fight of your dreams, wasn't it? That's what it was!"

- Gabriel Stroud

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 5
 * Losses: 10

Series Record

 * NOTE 1: Gabriel Stroud also competed in Battle of the Stars as the mentor of JAR.
 * NOTE 2: Harry Hills entered Series 9-10 with Hobgoblin.

Outside Robot Wars
In spite of Sabretooth using a spinning disc as a weapon, Series 8 version was briefly featured on the Extreme Robots website before those events gained a spinner-safe arena. Sabretooth was listed as a competitor, hinting at potential participation in 2017 Extreme Robots live events, before its statistics were removed from the website.

In July 2017, Gabriel Stroud stated on Instagram that he was upgrading the Series 8 version of Sabretooth, with a view to entering it into live events and Robot Wars whiteboard battles in the future. However, the machine has yet to compete at a live event.

In Guildford, the Series 10 version of Sabretooth competed at Extreme Robots using an alternative white colour-scheme and the name Atom. In its first battle, it fought Behemoth, Meggamouse, Saint and Dozer, but despite surviving for longer than Saint and Dozer, it was pitted by Behemoth. It then fought Tauron, Expulsion, Suspension and Cyclone, but was pitted by Cyclone. In a tag team battle where it was paired with Thor, Atom was left to fight alone against YOTON and Harpy, eventually becoming immobile. In another battle between it, Behemoth, Expulsion and Tauron, it survived until the time limit expired.

For more information on Team Legion's excursions outside of Robot Wars, see Team Legion.

Trivia

 * Sabretooth is the only robot to reach the Heat Final of the main competition despite only collecting one single win in the Head-to-Heads - only Robo Savage achieved this before in a side competition, and both qualified on a total score of 3 points.
 * Prior to its official trailer, Sabretooth was leaked as Series 8 competitor as early as March 6th, 2016, due to a tweet from Angela Scanlon, showing her posing in front of Sabretooth's work bench.
 * The 9000rpm spinning speeds of Sabretooth's flywheel at the time of Series 7 still holds the record for the fastest spinner in UK Robot Wars, equal with Grand Finalist Pulsar.
 * In its Series 9 introduction, Sabretooth was incorrectly spelled as Sabertooth.
 * Coincidentally, Sabretooth's second loss and second win were both in battles involving Terrorhurtz.
 * The second teaser trailer for Series 8 centred around Sabretooth and its team, before cutting to footage from its Group Battle with Storm 2, Eruption and Terror Turtle.
 * Sabretooth is one of three robots, the other two being Behemoth and Big Nipper, to compete in both era of Robot Wars and have a superior win percentage in the reboot (38.5% in the reboot compared to 0% in the classic era).