Top dog Joey Chestnut beats his arch rival and his own hot dog eating world record

Glitter swallowing champion Joey Chestnut has done it again.

The world in first place Not only did Eater defeat his arch-rival, he also set his own world record by consuming a whopping 83 hot dogs in buns in 10 minutes during a highly anticipated showdown on Monday.

Chestnut made headlines earlier this summer when he was banned from the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest for signing an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods, a company that makes plant-based meat alternatives (including, yes, hot dogs with soy protein).

It was an amazing turnaround for Chestnut, who has become synonymous with the Coney Island contest, winning it 16 times since 2007 – the first year he defeated then-defending champion Takeru Kobayashi.

Chestnut vowed that fans would see him eat again and didn't wait long to deliver. He held a Participation in the hot dog contest on July 4th at the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas, where they ate 57 hot dogs in five minutes, beating a team of four soldiers who managed 49 together.

The real drama, however, unfolded on Monday when Chestnut and Kobayashi faced off for the first time in 15 years in a live-streamed Netflix event called “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef.”

The rematch was over a decade in the making

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Getty Images

The wiener-takes-all contest, announced just days after Chestnut's suspension from Coney Island in June, brought together the hot dog-eating world's biggest rivals.

Kobayashi, 46, rose to fame as a competitive eater in his native Japan before bringing his talent to the United States in the early 2000s. He is credited with popularizing the sport in the U.S. and getting competitors, spectators and sponsors to take events like Coney Island seriously.

The man nicknamed the “Godfather of Eating Contests” won the famous competition six years in a row, defeating Chestnut twice.

But the underdog eventually became a household name: Chestnut defeated Kobayashi three years in a row – including once in a sudden-death “eat-off” – and emerged victorious in all but one subsequent fight, at least until this summer.

Kobayashi left Major League Eating (MLE) – the governing body currently at odds with Chestnut – in 2010 due to a contract dispute, but continued to set world records in other competitions.

Tens of thousands of hot dogs later, 46-year-old Kobayashi announced his retirement earlier this year – but confirmed in the summer that he would not retire until he had defeated Chestnut “one last time.”

Chestnut, however, accepted the challenge. In a pre-recorded video shown before Monday's competition, he referred to his previous victories against Kobayashi and stated: “I was superior to him in the hot dog discipline.”

“I'm trying to prove that I'm the best,” Chestnut added. “Maybe he really wants to win. I have to win.”

And Chestnut did it. He devoured 83 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, beating his own world record of 76 he set in Coney Island in 2021. Kobayashi totaled 66, beating his previous record of 64.5 set in 2009.

After the competition, Kobayashi was officially announced his resignationand said: “I risked everything for this.”

But in the same video clip shared by Netflix, Chestnut said he thought it was “highly unlikely” that he wouldn't face Kobayashi again.

“He hit a personal best,” Chestnut added. “Nobody wants to give up on defeat. I'm excited to see what's next.”

Chestnut had to adapt his technique, but it was worth it

David Becker/Getty Images for Netflix

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Getty Images for Netflix

The event, hosted by actor Rob Riggle and former WWE wrestler Nikki Garcia (formerly known as Nikki Bella), took place with much fanfare in Las Vegas.

Poolside, a pep band wearing T-shirts reading “Team Joey” and “Team Kobi” played “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled, while several other participants warmed up the crowd with their own tricks.

Matt Stonie – who broke Chestnut's winning streak at Coney Island in 2015 – competed against three Olympians in a chicken wing contest, eating 53 wings in three minutes, surpassing the combined feats of water polo player Max Irving and swimmers Ryan Lochte and Ryan Murphy, who ate 36 wings.

Next up was 24-time Guinness World Record holder Leah Shutkever, who secured another place in the books for eating over 2,000 grams (more than four pounds) of watermelon in three minutes.

Almost an hour after the special began, the men nicknamed “Jaws” and “Tsunami” finally entered the stage and set up their stations.

Crucially, one of the competition rules prohibited competitors from dunking the hot dogs in water, a typical part of Chestnut's technique (drinking water from cups was allowed – although most of it ended up on competitors' shirts). But that didn't seem to slow him down – quite the opposite.

“When I first heard the rules about not dipping them, I was really worried, but then I learned how to eat them like that,” Chestnut said after his win. “And every other hot dog contest I enter, I'll eat some of them without dipping them – that was amazing.”

Chestnut and Kobayashi began the match at the same pace, although Chestnut had a slight lead after the first minute and it continued to grow, leading Kobayashi 51 to 44 at halftime.

And he ate his record-breaking 77th hot dog with a luxurious minute and 10 seconds left to play (at which point Kobayashi was at 63).

“His expression may be pained, but inside he is beaming with laughter,” cheered one commentator.

After the result was confirmed – which included examining the soles of the men's shoes for crumbs they might have stepped on to secretly hide leftover food – Chestnut was officially named the frontrunner.

He received a gold hot dog statuette, $100,000 in prize money and a rhinestone-encrusted WWE championship belt presented to him by wrestler Rey Mysterio.

It was one of many references to the fact that the weekly WWE program “Raw” comes to Netflix in 2025 (the streaming service also announces upcoming live events, such as a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson in November and several consecutive NFL Christmas games starting this year).

As a water-soaked Kobayashi watched, Chestnut gave him credit for his own victory.

“I've been trying to do 80 hot dogs for years, and I never could have done it without Kobayashi,” he said on stage. “He pushes me. We haven't always been nice to each other, but I love how we encourage each other to do our best.”

Copyright: NPR