Longstanding beef has finally been squashed.
Eaten, actually.
Joey Chestnut defeated Takeru Kobayashi in a one-on-one hot dog eating contest Sunday afternoon at the Hyper X Arena in Las Vegas.
Chestnut consumed 83 dogs — beating his world record of 76 in 2022 — to Kobayashi’s 66 in 10 minutes.
Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi went head-to-head for the first time since 2009. Unfinished Business/Netflix“This is amazing,” Chestnut said afterward. “I’ve been trying to hit 80 hot dogs for years. Without Kobayashi, I was never able to do it. He drives me. We weren’t always nice to each other, but I love the way we push each other to be our best.”
The head-to-head showdown, which was streamed live on Netflix, between the fierce rivals — largely considered the two best competitive eaters in the world — was 15 years in the making.
The last time they met was in the 2009 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, when Chestnut beat Kobayashi after a five-dog sudden death.
The two were atop competitive eating for a generation.
Chestnut won 16 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contests, while Kobayashi, who said Monday that he “did everything I could,” won six.
But this matchup was separate from the famous event on Coney Island.
Kobayashi was banned by Major League Eating in 2010 after a contractual dispute, and Chestnut was banned from the Nathan’s contest after signing an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods.
Chestnut consumed 83 dogs — beating his world record of 76 in 2022. Getty Images for Netflix © 2024
Kobayashi ate 66 hotdogs in 10 minutes. Getty Images for Netflix © 2024Chestnut and Kobayashi were not allowed to separate the hot dog from the bun or dip either in water, a departure from what is allowed at Nathan’s contest.
It doesn’t matter, however.
Chestnut is the hot dog king.
Chestnut bested Kobayashi for the fourth time in his career. Unfinished Business/Netflix“When I first heard the rules about no dunking, I was really worried,” Chestnut said. “But then I learned how to eat them like this. Any other hot dog eating contest I do, I’m gonna be eating some of them without dunking. This was amazing.”
In an undercard battle, competitive eater Matt Stonie smoked a team of three Olympians — Ryan Locate, Ryan Murphy and Max Irving — by eating a ridiculous 53 chicken wings in three minutes to their combined 36.
Leah Shutkever added a 35th Guinness World Record to her ledger, taking down an astounding 2000.56 grams of watermelon in 2:30 — besting the previous mark of 1,750 grams, done in three minutes.
