The long-standing conflict was finally resolved.
Actually, I ate it.
Joey Chestnut beat Takeru Kobayashi in a one-on-one hot dog eating contest at the HyperX Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon.
Chestnut consumed 83 hot dogs, beating his previous world record of 76 set in 2022, while Kobayashi consumed 66 in 10 minutes.
“This is amazing,” Chestnut said after the game. “I've been trying to finish 80 hot dogs for years, and I never could have done it without Kobayashi. He inspires me. We haven't always been kind to each other, but I love how we inspire each other to be our best.”
The head-to-head battle between the fierce rivals widely considered to be two of the world's greatest eaters, which aired live on Netflix, was 15 years in the making.
The last time they faced off was in 2009 at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, when Chestnut defeated Kobayashi in a sudden death match with five hot dogs.
The two of them reigned supreme in competitive eating for a generation.
Chestnut won 16 Nathan's hot dog eating contests, while Kobayashi, who said Monday he “tried his hardest,” won six.
However, this matchup was separate from the famous Coney Island event.
Kobayashi was banned from Major League Eating in 2010 after a contractual dispute, and Chestnut was banned from Nathan's competitions after signing a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods.
Chestnut and Kobayashi were not allowed to separate the hot dogs from the buns or submerge them in water, something that is not allowed in Nathan's contest.
But that's not a problem.
Chestnut is the king of hot dogs.
“I was really worried when I first heard the rule that you can't submerge the hot dogs in water,” Chestnut said, “but now I know how to do it. Next time I participate in a hot dog eating contest, I'm going to eat a few without submerging them in water. It was an amazing experience.”
In the opening battle, competitive eater Matt Stonie dominated a team of three Olympians (Ryan Locat, Ryan Murphy, and Max Irving), eating an astounding 53 chicken wings in three minutes, beating the team's total of 36.
Leah Shatkever added her 35th Guinness World Record to her tally after eating a staggering 2,000.56 grams of watermelon in just two minutes and 30 seconds, beating the previous record of 1,750 grams achieved in three minutes.
