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On July 4, 2007, the competitive eating world was turned on its head when Joey Chestnut secured the Mustard Belt at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for the first time by downing 66 wieners to break the world record he’d set just two days prior while ending Takeru Kobayashi’s six-year reign as the event’s champion.
The man known as “Jaws” (who lost to Kobayashi by less than two hot dogs after making his Nathan’s debut the previous year) ushered in a new era of competitive eating with the victory that marked the start of an unrivaled dynasty while officially sparking a storied rivalry that essentially died in 2010 when his opponent was banned from the contest over a sponsorship dispute.
In 2024, Joey Chestnut suffered the same fate when he was excluded from the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest thanks to the drama surrounding his decision to ink an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods, which marked the end of a 17-year run where he only lost a single time (an upset at the hands of Matt Stonie in 2010).
While he was absent from the sport’s premier event, he was able to down 57 hot dogs in five minutes after throwing together his own contest against a group of soldiers at Fort Bliss, which set the stage for the wildly anticipated “Unfinished Beef” showdown Netflix organized between him and Kobayashi in Las Vegas on Labor Day.
On Sunday, I was in attendance when the two men met inside the Luxor for a weigh-in where Kobayashi came in at 158 pounds while Chestnut tipped the scales at 222 pounds.
I also got the chance to chat with both of them ahead of their battle and got some insight into how they’ve prepared, their expectations, and the psychological war that’s being waged.
Kobayashi swears this will be his last event thanks to the toll competitive eating has taken on his mind and body
Competitive eaters hailing from Japan had A Moment at the turn of the millennium.
In 2000, Kazutoyo Arai won the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest with a total of 25 1/8 (all members of the top three that year hailed from the country), and in 2001, Takeru Kobayashi announced his grand arrival by essentially doubling that total with 50 to kick off the six-year winning streak Chestnut eventually brought to an end.
By the time he put the rest of the world on notice in Coney Island, Kobayashi had already managed to make a name for himself at home after winning a four-round contest as a student that led to him becoming a bit of a celebrity thanks to the television shows he started to appear on afterward, recalling (through his translator):
“It was just for fun in college when I did that first competition.
I was the only one who did well in that food challenge, so my girlfriend at the time sent a letter to these TV stations and they started inviting me and I started competing and that was when I really felt like, ‘Oh, wow, this is like sports.’
I was asked what it means to win in such a competition. I used hyperbole and said, “I want to continue doing this for the rest of my life,’ but that’s what ended up happening.”
The 46-year-old has been very candid about the impact of his decision to devote his life to that particular pastime while noting he’s been forced to adapt after grinding for more than two decades, saying:
“Recovery takes longer now that I’ve gotten older. My jaw and teeth are things that wear down and they don’t completely recover.
What I’ve done in recent years is have a longer training time between competitions and incorporate more rest.”
He also said his jaw pain has occasionally forced him to take an unconventional approach to meals, saying “I would put stuff in a blender and just drink it instead of eating.”
Both Kobayashi and Chestnut boast noticeably sculpted physiques, with the former saying his is the product of largely excluding carbs from a diet that also features plenty of protein powder and supplements. He also harnesses an exercise regimen that primarily revolved around cardio before he ended a ten-year weightlifting hiatus and started hitting the gym this year.
The Netflix competition marked the end of a short-lived retirement Kobayashi announced earlier this year while citing the mental and physical toll competitive eating has taken, and he admitted those issues are still a lingering factor heading into the contest on Labor Day:
“I’m used to it at this point. It’s not like there’s much pain—physical or mental—really.
I don’t have hunger. The fun of the hunger is lost and that’s kind of sad to me. But, looking at it in a positive way, it’s much easier to manage my meals.
After this competition, I think I’ll go back again to healthier eating habits and kind of go back to normal again.”
Kobayashi also hasn’t competed in a hot dog eating contest since the early 2010s and positioned the break as a bit of a double-edged sword, saying, “I don’t have that tension or on-edge feeling that I would have a lot in the past. Really getting myself back in gear mentally to get myself hyped up was the biggest challenge for this.”
When I spoke with Chestnut back in July, he said Kobayashi had a tendency to play mind games in the lead-up to an event, and while there’s little doubt Joey would like to return the favor, Takeru minimized the impact outside noise has on him:
“You can compare this to boxing, but it’s not a direct match, right? It’s not. It’s really a competition against yourself. I think of it more like track and field where if I do my best and I lose then that’s fine because I did my best with myself.
If I feel like I really did my best in the competition and I feel really satisfied in that way, then winning or losing becomes less relevant. I’ll just be satisfied.”
Kobayashi has also positioned the Labor Day contest as his last hurrah and says the outcome won’t impact his decision to enter a well-earned retirement, saying,
“I have made the decision. I agreed to this competition thinking that I have this one last thing to do. If I thought there were more matches down the line, then I don’t think I would be able to stand here today.”
He also declined to predict how many hot dogs he’ll be able to eat when everything is said and done, which is just one of the many ways his mindset differs from the man he’ll be facing off with.
Joey Chestnut is skeptical Kobayashi will actually retire and isn’t taking any chances with his preparation
At this point, no one can come close to challenging Joey Chestnut’s title as the greatest competitive eater of all time, and nothing sums up what sets him apart from the rest of the pack quite like the revelation I was treated to when he kicked off our conversation by outlining the lengths he’s gone to make sure he’s as prepared as possible.
The 40-year-old confessed “I think I’m crazy” due to the practice session he held after arriving in Las Vegas due to potential geographical variations concerning one of the key ingredients in the hot dog contest, saying:
“I knew we were eating Wal-Mart buns, but it’s a different bakery in a different region. They possibly have different ingredients.
I was right. They were a little bit different but I’m comfortable with them.
I don’t want any surprises.”
The competitive eating veteran said he’d normally go into “celebration mode'” after competing on the Fourth of July in any given year (gaining upwards of 30 pounds from his approximately 220 lbs. baseline in the process) but was forced to be a bit more disciplined knowing he had less than two months to prepare for a rematch 15 years in the making.
As far as his diet and exercise regimens are concerned, Jaws relies on “cardio and simple weightlifting” while keeping a close eye on what he’s eating:
“I’ll just do push-ups and squats when I wake up and once a week with the dumbbells. My biggest thing is a long walk. I want to walk at least five miles a day.
The most important thing is counting calories and really getting into a calorie deficit.
Today, I’ll probably have 400 calories total. I’ll have a protein supplement and a little bit of honey with some coffee. I want to go in empty and loose.”
As is the case with every sport, the mental aspect of competitive eating is just as important as the physical, and Chestnut made it very clear he’s skeptical about some of the claims Kobayashi has made ahead of what has been positioned as his swan song:
“I know he’s saying that he’s retiring, but he says a lot of things to try to get an edge.
In 2007 [at Nathan’s], he told me he literally couldn’t open his mouth. I remember him saying he could only eat a dozen hot dogs and he was only doing it for the appearance fee. He’s done this before.
He wouldn’t be traveling all the way over here. He wouldn’t have made a big deal about our rules if he didn’t have a plan. He’s going to be right on me the entire time.”
The rules in question involve a ban on the process of dunking the hot dogs in water (a common strategy at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest) as well as another that mandates the buns and meat can’t be eaten separately—a tweak Kobayashi asserted was primarily motivated by his quest for a more aesthetically pleasing contest at the press conference held after the weigh-in.
However, Chestnut is understandably skeptical there wasn’t an ulterior motive behind the proposal he agreed to:
“He dunked in every hot dog contest he was ever in.
I once beat him in a hamburger contest that allowed dunking and then it changed to not allow dunking. When the change happened—I’m not making any excuses—he beat me. He dominated. I was eating like a child. I had no technique.
I know that’s the reason. It’s alright. I’d use it to my advantage too.
I agreed to the rules and I took on the challenge of learning how to eat them without dunking. I’m happy with it and I’m pushing myself to my limits.”
Chestnut is still pretty confident in his own ability despite that adjustment, saying he views 76 hot dogs (his current world record) as the bare minimum and asserting he could devour as many as 84.
The rule differences aren’t the only notable change, as the contest (which is being held inside the relatively cozy confines of HyperX Arena in the Luxor) is a bit of a departure from the spectacle we’re treated to on Coney Island on Independence Day each year.
However, Chestnut says the venue comes with upsides and downsides:
“I love that sea of people. I love the energy, but it is hot. I try to convince myself that the heat doesn’t bother me, but it hurts. I’m really excited we’re in more controlled conditions.
I have a lot of my friends and family who are keeping me calm. There are also going to be some fans in here. It looks like an awesome stage. It’s going to have some great energy.”
Chestnut also dropped a fantastic quote while providing some insight into the competitive spirit that’s made him the G.O.A.T. when I asked him if he would demand a rematch in the event of a loss despite Kobayashi’s retirement pledge:
“I’m using this as motivation. He said that he’s retiring, so I need to make sure I don’t need to ask for a rematch.”
Cold-blooded.
Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef will be exclusively streaming on Netflix at 3 P.M. Eastern Time on Monday, September 2nd.