The International Fight League, the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, moves to the 2007 World Championship semifinals, highlighting the matchup between Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls and Ken Yasuda’s Tokyo Sabres in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). Both teams come into the match, held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., unbeaten at 3-0 this season after having gone winless in 2006, and feature some of the top stars in the league, including Delson Heleno and Bryan Vetell of the Pitbulls and Vladimir Matyushenko and Savant Young of the Sabres. The winner will take on the Quad Cities Silverbacks, who beat the Los Angeles Anacondas in the other semifinal. “IFL Battleground” airs every Monday night on MyNetworkTV.

Matchups and personalities featured in the episode include:
 • Lightweight Young (Pasadena, Calif.) of the Sabres battles Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania), who steps up from his alternate spot in place of injured starter Erik Owings (New York).

 • Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), a Capoeira and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master who was a perfect 3-0 on the season for the Pitbulls, takes on fellow unbeaten welterweight Antonio McKee (Long Beach, Calif.), who runs a free wrestling program for underprivileged children in Los Angeles.

• Alternates move to the front for both teams in the middleweight division, with the Pitbulls’ Dan Miller (Sparta, N.J.) and Sabres’ David Phillips (Texas) making their respective IFL debuts. • Matyushenko (Retchisa, Belarus) takes his unbeaten IFL mark into his bout with another Pitbulls’ alternate in Tim Boetsch.

 • Vetell (Jamaica, N.Y.) returns to action after a four-month layoff due to Commission-mandated injury suspension (during which time he qualified for the first-ever USA Grappling national team). Here he takes on the Sabres’ tough Wayne Cole (Oklahoma City, Okla.) in a key heavyweight clash.