Giant robots fighting one another to uphold their country’s honour? Surprisingly, this isn’t the weirdest thing to happen in 2017.

The US robotics company MegaBots challenged its Japanese rival, Suidobashi Heavy Industries, two years ago, to a battle to showcase their products. The day has come and we are set to see two huge robots engage in hand-to-hand combat, because why not.

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In the corner for the US, is the Megabots Eagle Prime robot. An upgrade on its Mk.II machine, the company raised $554,592 from nearly 8,000 backers on Kickstarter to get the robot ready for the showdown.

Eagle Prime weights 10,886kg, stands at 16 feet tall and is powered by a 430 horsepower V8 LS3 engine. It can seat two pilots, which will be in the ring to take on Suidobashi.

A Kurata robot will be entered into the fight from Suidobashi. It weighs about half of the Megabot robot, at around 5896kg and stands at 13 feet tall.

The MegaBots cofounders took part in an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit ahead of the competition and said that though weight can be beneficial, it could cause “a hit to our mobility and ability to run long duty cycles.”

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Aside from the sheer joy of watching two giant robots lay into each other, the fight between MegaBots and Suidobashi has another purpose.

The two companies want to pave the way for a robot fighting league. This would be similar to UK-based show Robot Wars but on a much larger scale.

The MegaBots said they have heard from other groups about a potential fighting league. So watch this space.

If you want to tune in to tonight’s fight, you can watch the battle on MegaBot’s Twitch account. It will take place at 7pm PT, or 2am on Wednesday GMT. As well, you can keep up with the robot drama with MegaBots over on its Twitter page.