Three-hour special 'American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World' to air Sept. 15

The second annual international competition will pit top U.S. ninjas against competitors from around the world

NBC will present its second annual "American Ninja Warrior" international competition later this summer with a three-hour special, "USA vs. the World." Five of the top competitors from "American Ninja Warrior" will go head-to-head against competitors from Japan and from Europe in a high-stakes competition on the show's famed four-stage finals course.

Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja Biamila will host and Jenn Brown will co-host. "American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. the World" is set to air Monday, Sept. 15 (8 p.m.), with a special encore presentation airing Tuesday, Sept. 16 (8 p.m.) on Esquire Network.

Representing Team USA are competitors Brian Arnold, Elet Hall, Paul Kasemir, Joe Moravsky and Travis Rosen. All of these athletes are veterans of "American Ninja Warrior" and have made it to the show's Las Vegas finals in past seasons.

Team Japan will include a formidable collection of both seasoned and up-and-coming athletes: Kazuma Asa, Hitoshi Kanno, Ryo Matachi, Shingo Yamamoto and Yusuke Morimoto. Yamamoto has competed in every season of Japan's "Sasuke."

Team Europe will be represented by Stefano Ghisolfi, Vadym Kuvakin, Sean McColl, Tim Sheiff and Miska Sutela. Ghisolfi and McColl are both champion rock climbers, and McColl won the rock climbing World Cup in 2012. Kuvakin is a former Olympian for the Ukraine in gymnastics and is a current member of the Cirque du Soleil cast for "La Rev" in Las Vegas. Sheiff, a successful competitor on several seasons of "American Ninja Warrior," is a world champion free runner.

Contestants will tackle "American Ninja Warrior's" punishing Las Vegas finals course in a head-to-head format that pits members from each team against one another. 

Based on the global hit "Sasuke," from the Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, the original series is in production for its 30th season. Only three contestants have completed the course.

"American Ninja Warrior" fans can visit NBC.com's official show site, http://nbc.com/american-ninja-warrior, "Like" the show on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ninjawarrior or follow "ANW" on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ninjawarrior.