Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi have settled an unfinished dispute.
Netflix’s live-streamed event, hosted by Rob Riggle and Nikki Garcia on Labor Day (September 2), featured competitive eating contestants Chestnut and Kobayashi facing off for the first time in 15 years, with the winner receiving $100,000 and a WWE-designed championship belt.
Although Kobayashi had once expressed plans to retire but wanted to face his long-time rival again, Chestnut was declared champion after eating 83 hot dogs.
“I’ve been trying to do 80 hot dogs for years,” Chestnut said, before thanking Kobayashi for inspiring his competitive spirit. “He pushes me. We haven’t always been nice to each other, but we encourage each other to do our best.”
“I feel like I did everything I could,” Kobayashi said of the defeat.
The two competitive eaters have been battling each other for years at the annual Nathan’s contest, but the last time they faced off was in 2009, when Chestnut defeated Kobayashi in a sudden-death five-hot dog eating contest.
The main changes to the rules for their fight this time include a ban on dipping or pouring water over hot dogs and buns, not separating hot dogs from buns, penalties can be imposed for rule violations or regurgitation, participants have 30 seconds to finish the leftovers after 10 minutes, and excess crumbs are weighed and deducted from the score if necessary.
Before the competition, Chestnut and Kobayashi reflected on their rivalry.
“He was an incredible champion until he started losing,” Chestnut said. He also claimed that Kobayashi makes “an excuse” every time he loses, and mentioned that Kobayashi once revealed he had a jaw problem.
“When I heard Joey say my jaw problem was fake, I was really angry,” Kobayashi said. “This is the first time my personal feelings have come into play. I want to kick his ass.”
Chestnut is a 16-time Nathan’s winner (including the last eight years) and holds the record for most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes with 76. Kobayashi is a six-time Nathan’s winner and the subject of a recent Netflix documentary. Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gutin which he announced that he planned to retire from competitive eating. In 2010, Kobayashi was banned from competing due to a contract dispute. He has broken world records in competitive eating and currently holds more than 10 world records in the sport.
“I will not retire until I defeat him one final time,” Kobayashi said in a statement when the contest was first announced. “This rivalry has been brewing for a long time. Competing against Joey live on Netflix means fans around the world can watch me knock him out.”
During the special, fellow Olympians Ryan Murphy, Max Irving and Ryan Lochte competed against Stonie in a chicken wing eating showdown – Stonie won after eating 53 wings in 3 minutes. Then, 24-time Guinness World Record holder Leah Shutkever also attempted to set the record for the most watermelon eaten in one minute, which she did.
Unfinished beef is just the latest live event to stream on Netflix. Other upcoming live events include a live boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson in November and two NFL games as part of a blockbuster deal with the league in December.
