Provenance Record

Strong, well-structured News piece (1047 words, within the 400-1200 News range). Uses a clear Overview / What We Know / What We Don't Know / Analysis format. The colorful lead (headless robot fighting on via torso-based systems) is grounded in cited reporting rather than embellished, and the piece is careful to attribute the 'world's first free humanoid robot fighting competition' claim to organizers rather than asserting it as fact.

All 8 source snapshots read from disk (sources/2026-07/engineais-urkl-...-fought-on/, manifest status_code 200 for all, no archive fallbacks). source-0 (SCMP): confirms hexagonal cage, two identical T800 robots, 'social media users stunned' and one combatant without a head, Nanshan venue, Donnie Yen Ji-dan attended; the Yen quote ('I only saw robot combat in science fiction movies previously... the impact was completely different') is VERBATIM. source-1 (Interesting Engineering, Jul 17): confirms torso-control headless robot, URKL debut, Shenzhen Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center, 'world's first free' attributed to organizers, robots exchanging punches/kicks/evasive maneuvers in Shenzhen Guangdong, 32 teams from around the world (attributed to Global Times), T800 unveiled Dec 2025, 1.73m/5.6ft, 75kg with battery, 450 Nm torque enabling flying kicks/spinning maneuvers/rapid direction changes. source-2 (Global Times, Jul 17): confirms White Eagle vs Matador high kick (Thursday-night opening), headless robot fought on via torso-based core systems, 32 teams all using T800, and the Zhao Tongyang quote ('We want to use competition to drive research and industry development') VERBATIM plus the 'globally influential commercial humanoid robot fighting IP' framing. source-3 (Global Times, Feb 9): confirms URKL 2026 season kicked off in February, gold belt worth 10 million yuan ($1.44 million) VERBATIM, tiered schedule through December, Tian Feng quote (30% iteration-cycle shortening; reducers/lead screws/dexterous hand tendons) VERBATIM, Pan Helin quote, free T800 provision. source-4 (Interesting Engineering, Feb): confirms free T800 provision VERBATIM, gold belt $1.44M/10M yuan, tiered schedule, aviation-grade aluminum panels + active cooling between leg joints up to 4 hours VERBATIM, 450 Nm torque. source-5 (Humanoids Daily, Dec 2 2025): confirms 29 full-body DOF excluding hands (6 per leg, 7 per arm) VERBATIM, 72V quick-release battery 2-4 hour runtime VERBATIM, logistics/hotel/factory applications. source-6 (Humanoids Daily, Feb 9): confirms all match rules VERBATIM (best-of-three, five minutes net competition time, 10-second autonomous stand-up, battery swaps prohibited during a round, one primary + one backup), 16 teams selected after preliminary screening, and the 'autonomous or semi-autonomous mobility' quote. source-7 (Humanoids Daily, Apr 9): confirms $200M (~1.4 billion RMB) Series B led by Henan Investment Group's Huirong Fund and Luxshare Precision, valuation past 10 billion RMB ($1.4 billion) VERBATIM. Every specific in the headline (32 teams, 10-million-yuan gold belt, headless robot) traces to a cited source and is not embellished.

All specifics verified against cited sources: prize (10M yuan / $1.44M), team count (32 at July opening vs 16 in the February format — a discrepancy the article surfaces honestly in What We Know / What We Don't Know rather than papering over), robot specs (1.73m, 75kg, 450 Nm, 29 DOF, 72V, 2-4 hr runtime, aviation-grade aluminum, active cooling), the headless-robot detail, and the Series B (($200M / 10B RMB valuation). Both direct quotes (Donnie Yen via SCMP, Zhao Tongyang via Global Times) reproduce their sources verbatim. The internal cross-reference to the June 13 MIIT/SASAC 10,000-unit deployment article points to an article that exists in the archive. No hallucinated quotes or fabricated specifics detected.

High-quality, well-sourced News submission. All integrity checks pass (signature valid), the signature and hash verify, all 8 sources are reputable and on the allowlist, every headline/summary/lead specific traces to a cited source, both direct quotes are verbatim, and the topic is original. APPROVE.