Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi settled some unfinished beef.
In Netflix‘s live streaming event hosted on Labor Day, Sep. 2 by Rob Riggle and Nikki Garcia, competitive eaters Chestnut and Kobayashi battled once again for the first time in 15 years. The winner was awarded $100,000 and presented with a WWE-made custom championship title belt.
Despite Kobayashi once revealing plans for retirement but wanting to battle his longtime rival again, Chestnut was revealed as the champion with 83 hot dogs eaten.
“I’ve been trying to hit 80 hot dogs for years,” Chestnut said before crediting Kobayashi for stirring the competitive nature out of him. “He drives me. We weren’t always nice to each other but we push each other to be our best.”
“I feel like I did everything I could,” Kobayashi said of the loss.
The two competitive eaters have battled each other for years in the annual Nathan’s contest, but the last time they competed head to head was in 2009, when Chestnut beat Kobayashi in a five hot dog sudden death eat-off.
Key changes to the regulations for their battle this time include no dunking or pouring water on hot dogs and buns; no separation of hot dogs from buns; penalties may be issued for breaking of rules, or regurgitation; 30 seconds to finish what’s left in their mouths at end of 10 minutes and excess crumbs are weighed and deducted from scores if necessary.
Prior to the competition, Chestnut and Kobayashi reflected on their rivalry.
“He was an amazing champion until he started losing,” Chestnut said. He also alleged that every time Kobayashi has lost he gives “an excuse,” mentioning when Kobayashi once revealed he had a jaw issue.
“When I heard Joey saying my jaw problem was fake I got really upset,” Kobayashi said. “This is the first time that my personal feelings are involved. 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 consumed 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 Gut, in which he revealed he planned to retire from competitive eating. In 2010, Kobayashi was banned from competing in the competition due to a contract dispute. He has broken world records for competitive eating and currently holds more than 10 world records in the sport.
“Retiring for me will only happen after I take him down one last time,” Kobayashi said in a statement when the competition was first announced. “This rivalry has been brewing for a long time. Competing against Joey live on Netflix means fans all over the world can watch me knock him out.”
During the special, other 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 achieved.
Unfinished Beef is just the latest live event that streamed on Netflix. Other upcoming live events include a live boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson in November and two NFL games in a blockbuster deal with the league in December.
