American competitive eater Joey Chestnut proved his dominance by smoking his nemesis, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, in a much-hyped hot dog-eating contest streamed live Monday on Netflix.
With a $100,000 grand prize and bragging rights to become “Greatest of All Time” on the line, Chestnut inhaled 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes to Kobayashi’s 66 — their first dog-to-dog faceoff in 15 years.
Chestnut, 40, stuffed his face and washed down hot dogs with cups of water in a cheering arena in the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, ultimately besting his personal record of 76 hot dogs.
Kobayashi, 46, had announced his retirement this year, but he said he would return for redemption against Chestnut.
“I was trying to get 80 hot dogs for years, and without Kobayashi, I was never able to do it,” Chestnut said after his victory. “He drives me. We weren’t always nice to each other, but I love the way we push each other to be our best.”
Netflix billed the event as “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef,” pitting the two adversaries as rivals on the same stage as heavyweight boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield and NBA superstars Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.
After his loss, Kobayashi said through a translator that he “felt like I did everything I could.”
Last month, Chestnut appeared on NBC’s “TODAY” show alongside Kobayashi to predict that the event would surpass their personal bests.
“I think we’re going to make world records,” Chestnut said.
Chestnut, whose nickname is Jaws, was noticeably absent from this year’s July 4 contest at Nathan’s flagship location in Coney Island, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. He said event organizer Major League Eating ruled him ineligible — much to the disappointment of his fans — after he began partnering with a competing plant-based rival. Major League Eating, however, denied he was “banned.”
Kobayashi’s return to competition was unexpected, but for a different reason: This year, he revealed in the Netflix documentary “Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut” that he was retiring from competitive eating after he no longer felt hungry and wondered about “what damage I’ve done to my body.” He estimated he has consumed 10,000 hot dogs in his career.
But he said on “TODAY” that after he ceased competitive eating for the past five years, the opportunity to scarf down hot dogs again with Chestnut “means a lot” because he’s retired.
“Literally, I’m back for one day,” said Kobayashi, who is nicknamed the Tsunami.
His string of wins in the annual Nathan’s contest in the early and mid-2000s helped to popularize competitive eating.
On July 4, 2009, when he and Chestnut last competed against each other, Chestnut devoured 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, lapping up a victory over Kobayashi’s 64½ hot dogs and buns. Chestnut would go on to become the contest’s pre-eminent champion, while Kobayashi stopped competing in that event in 2010 because of a contract dispute.
Until then, Chestnut had beaten Kobayashi three times in competition, while Kobayashi surpassed him twice.
“We’re going to eat some hot dogs for real on Labor Day,” Chestnut said on “TODAY.”
Netflix gave the pair 10 minutes to eat as many hot dogs as they could stomach but warned that the rules would be more challenging, including no dunking hot dogs or buns in water and no separating the wieners from the bread.
The Labor Day special included undercard events, as well. Competitive eater Matt Stonie handily defeated three decorated Olympians — swimmers Ryan Lochte and Ryan Murphy and water polo player Max Irving — in a chicken wing-eating contest. British competitive eater Leah Shutkever also ate a record amount of watermelon in three minutes under Guinness World Records.
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