"Man vs. Beast," the multispecies competition airing Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 9 p.m., will feature humans and animals going head-to-head in a series of competitions. Steve Santagati ("Bachelorettes in Alaska") hosts.

In addition to the midgets vs. elephant battle -- in which the two teams will compete to see who can pull a DC-10 across a desert field fastest -- highlights of the hour include 132-lb. hot dog-eating champ Takeru Kobayashi trying to outswallow a 1,000 lb. Kodiak bear, and world-class sprinter Shawn Crawford racing against a giraffe and a zebra.

Also planned: a sumo wrestler vs. orangutan tug of war, and a chimp vs. soldier obstacle course race.

Update: this reminds me of the classic Space Moose series, Animal Kingdom Kumite: "For the first time in history, Capybara will face Kangaroo, Panda will face Piranha, and Jellyfish will face Jackson's Chameleon!"