Joey Chestnut Sets A New World Record Against His Longtime Rival

Joey Chestnut has been the face of hot dog eating contests for a long time now. Ever since he took down Takeru Kobayashi at the 2007 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (famously held on July 4th every year), Chestnut has been a one-man dynasty of competitive eating.

Prior to Chestnut's rise to fame and dominance, Kobayashi had won six Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests. Kobayashi, who has been credited with popularizing competitive eating, has famously been described as "The Godfather of Competitive Eating". However, after finishing runner-up to Kobayashi in 2005 and 2006, Chestnut finally defeated Kobayashi in 2007. Chestnut has since set, and broken, his own hot dog eating world records and has won 16 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests.

While Nathan's has a stronghold on the most popular hot dog eating competition there is, they have been mired in controversy with the contest's two biggest superstars. Kobayashi has refused to compete since 2010 due to a contract dispute, and Chestnut recently refused to compete in 2024 after signing an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods (a Nathan's competitor).

And so, enter "Unfinished Beef", the Netflix live event that featured Chestnut vs. Kobayashi, potentially for the last time. On Labor Day, Chestnut and Kobayashi faced off in a 10-minute hot dog eating contest. Chestnut defeated Kobayashi 83-67, setting a new world record in the process. Chestnut broke his own world record of 76 hot dogs (set in 2021).

Check out the final 29 seconds of the competition here:

While Kobayashi also set a new personal best with 67 hot dogs in 10 minutes, Chestnut once again proved he's best in the hot dog eating business. Kobayashi notably announced his retirement from competitive eating following the event, but just as the title of this Netflix event would suggest, Chestnut believes there is still "Unfinished Beef" between these two legends:

Related: Joey Chestnut To Compete In A Different Hot Dog Eating Contest Amid Ban Controversy