Joey Chesnut and Takeru Kobayashi resumed competitive eating's most intense showdown on Monday in the Netflix special “Unfinished Beef,” with Chesnut winning 83-66. Chesnut's 83 hot dogs broke the world record for the most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes without submerging them in water in competitive eating history. Chesnut won the $100,000 prize.
“I've been trying to eat 80 hot dogs for years, but I never would have done it without Kobayashi,” Chestnut said after the contest. “He inspires me. We haven't always been nice to each other, but we push each other to do our best.”
Chestnut was the overwhelming favorite at most betting sites to win arguably the most anticipated hot dog eating contest in sports history. The special revived one of the sport's legendary rivalries, with the two men known as the greatest hot dog eating contestants last facing off in 2009.
chestnut First time competing In 2005, he won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. In 2007, he won his first title by eating 66 hot dogs, beating Kobayashi, who already had six titles under his belt, and thus starting a rivalry.
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Joey Chestnut sits with his trophy and belt after winning the Nathan's 2022 Independence Day International Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2022, by eating 63 hot dogs in 10 minutes. (Kenna Betancourt/Getty Images)
Kobayashi also lost to Chesnut in 2008 and 2009. A contractual dispute then prevented Kobayashi from competing at Coney Island, allowing Chesnut to win the next 16 times. But this year, Chesnut was also barred from competing in the famous contest due to an endorsement deal. Chesnut has an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods, which specializes in plant-based alternatives to meat products. Major League Eating later lifted the ban, but Chesnut was determined.
Chesnut instead competed against Army soldiers at a Fourth of July feast at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he ate 57 hot dogs and buns, beating four other competitors who ate a total of 49 hot dogs and buns.
Joey Chestnut banned from 2024 Nathan's hot dog eating contest due to affiliation with vegan wiener company
Joey Chestnut, winner of the 2021 Nathan's Independence Day International Hot Dog Eating Contest, poses for a photo at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York on July 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Brittany Newman, File)
Speed-eating contests are most popular in the United States and are also held in countries including Canada, Germany and Japan, but they have been criticized by health experts and were banned by China in 2021.
Meanwhile, Kobayashi revealed in May during the Netflix documentary “Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut” that he was retiring from competitive eating after he found himself no longer feeling hungry and wondered “what damage he had done to his body” after eating an estimated 10,000 hot dogs over the course of his career.
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Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi attend the press conference for LIVE: Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, which will be held on September 1, 2024 at the HyperX Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada. (David Becker/Getty Images, Netflix © 2024)
But after taking a break from competitive eating for the past five years, he told “Today” that the opportunity to chomp on hot dogs with Chestnut again “means a lot” to him now that he's retired.
Chestnut currently leads the head-to-head record between the two players, 4-2.
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