GUANGZHOU, China and LONDON, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chelsea Football Club today announced a global partnership, with GAC – one of the world's fastest growing global automotive businesses – which sees them become the club's Official Automotive Partner. The partnership brings together Chelsea's global football community and GAC's growing global automotive business, creating closer connections with fans and consumers in the UK, across Europe and beyond.
Chelsea FC has one of the largest global fan bases in the world with millions of supporters across Europe and beyond. GAC are one of China's largest automobile manufacturers and the partnership comes at a time when GAC is expanding its global reach and into new markets with its range of high-quality, practical models.
GAC and Chelsea FC first joined forces for the 2026 pre-season tour and this new chapter together will see vehicles from GAC's AION range escorting the men's team to Stamford Bridge on selected matchdays. GAC and Chelsea FC will also collaborate on digital storytelling, fan experiences and engagement including car displays, providing opportunities for the Chelsea family to discover GAC and its vehicles.
The UK and Europe are important markets in GAC's international development. The partnership with Chelsea FC adds a new dimension to this work, complementing product introductions, sales-channel development and customer support. It will help GAC reach audiences beyond traditional automotive channels as the company continues to build its presence across the region.
GAC's European lineup includes the AION V electric SUV and the AION UT compact electric hatchback, offering options for family travel and everyday mobility. Both models reflect the company's focus on practical usability, technology and quality.
The partnership also forms part of GAC's One GAC 2.0 global strategy and its Local for Local approach. By combining the partnership's international reach with activities shaped around local interests, GAC and Chelsea FC will build lasting connections together with supporters and customers.
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Chelsea FC announces new global partnership with GAC
Professional Martial Artists Pilot Robots REAL-TIME on Stage
SINGAPORE, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ARC held Singapore's first full-sized humanoid fight night at *SCAPE on Wednesday, 7 October. Professional combat athletes in full-body motion capture suits controlled Unitree G1 and EngineAI T800 humanoids in real time, in front of an audience of more than 380 people.
Highlights
- A first for Singapore: the country's first full-sized humanoid fight night, with every robot controlled in real time by a human pilot
- Professional fighters as pilots: Muay Thai, MMA, boxing and kung fu athletes, including national and international champions
- Two platforms, one team: a new team format in which the lightweight Unitree G1 and the heavyweight EngineAI T800 fought side by side against a matching pair
- EngineAI T800 debut: the 1.73m, 75kg humanoid's first appearance in Singapore
The main card introduced a new team format. Iron Fang and Steel Shadow each fielded one Unitree G1 and one EngineAI T800, putting a 35kg lightweight and a 75kg heavyweight on the same side. The teams met in survival mode, with fighters from Muay Thai, MMA, boxing and kung fu taking turns to pilot.
Before the first fight, the programme featured a group humanoid dance, a dance battle and a kung fu demonstration, with a humanoid mirroring a martial artist's movements as he performed.
A live heads-up display tracked each humanoid's health points on the main screen. Next to it, a split feed showed the pilot and avatar side by side, so the audience could watch every move on the pilot platform repeated by the humanoid in real time.
The pilots
Sham Raaj, "The Indian Warrior" (EngineAI T800). A two-time professional national WMO champion and international WBC Muay Thai continental champion from Singapore. He co-founded and coaches at two Muay Thai gyms, Gifted Fight Academy and Fight Therapy.
Eugene Chung (EngineAI T800). A combat athlete turned robot pilot, Eugene has competed internationally in the emerging sport of humanoid robot combat.
Lukas Leasure (Unitree G1). A US-born, Singapore-based professional MMA fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. He is a coach, a ONE Championship judge and the owner of Stronghold MMA.
In the lightweight fight, Lukas Leasure, piloting Iron Fang's Unitree G1, dropped low and countered, knocking Steel Shadow's avatar to the mat. It was the biggest reaction of the night.
A public arena for the humanoid age
ARC pairs each human pilot with a humanoid avatar, and uses live events to test, in public, how far that partnership can go.
"Last night was not yet the sport. It was a demonstration of the idea," said Antonio Gai, founder of ARC. "Every fight on that stage was part of a larger answer: that the humanoid era can be a story about partnership, not replacement. We chose Singapore to make that case first because it is a city that takes the future seriously, in public."
Katena's real-time control system linked each pilot to their avatar, translating full-body movement onto the humanoid as it happened.
More international ARC showcases are planned over the coming months, with Singapore the first.
About ARC
ARC is a new combat sport built around the pilot-avatar pair. A human pilot wears a full-body motion capture device, and a humanoid avatar in the arena mirrors every movement in real time.
ARC is also being built as a public arena for the humanoid era, where pilots, avatars and the teams behind them prove what they can do in front of an audience. After events in New York and Chicago on the Unitree G1, ARC Night Singapore is its first event with adult-sized robots being full-body mirrored to fight in real-time. [arcleague.com]
About Katena
Katena is the portal for humanoid control. Its real-time pilot-avatar system powers every ARC event and underlies the broader mission of deep human–humanoid partnership. [katena.ai]
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ARC Stages Singapore's First Full-Sized Humanoid Fight Night
