Joey Chestnut Breaks Personal Hot Dog Eating Record, Defeats Longtime Rival Takeru Kobayashi
"I was trying to get 80 hot dogs for years, and without Kobayashi, I was never able to do it. He drives me," Chestnut said of his longtime rival after the win.
Joey Chestnut set a new world record with 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes, defeating Takeru Kobayashi in a one-on-one competition on Netflix Monday.
Netflix's Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef sees the former appearing in a hot dog-eating contest on the popular streaming service after he was disqualified from the annual Nathan's Famous contest for signing with a rival plant-based hot dog brand.
Chestnut said the decision to deny him from competing in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest left him feeling "gutted."
While announcing his retirement from competitive eating earlier this year, Kobayashi teased that the 16-time Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating champion could make him hungry for a rematch, according to NBC News.
After improving on his personal best of 76 hot dogs at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas earlier today, Chestnut said his longtime rival helped motivate him to reach a goal he had been trying to hit for years.
"I was trying to get 80 hot dogs for years, and without Kobayashi, I was never able to do it," Chestnut said. "He drives me. We weren't always nice to each other, but I love the way we push each other to be our best."
