Perhaps you're thinking of Snake, built by Mark Setrakian? One of the most iconic battlebots ever. I could only find one video of him using the skeuomorphic controller [1], and a picture of him holding it [2]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVyMzo-D97A

[2] http://www.teamdelta.com/ax/markwwac.jpg