Kobayashi: New Netflix Hot Dog Contest Rule with Joey Chestnut Stops Cheating

Netflix announced the rules for the highly anticipated hot dog eating showdown between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi on Thursday. This event, dubbed “Unfinished Beef”, marks the first face-off between the competitive eating giants in 15 years and promises to be as contentious as ever.

The announcement added fuel to the ongoing rivalry between Chestnut and Kobayashi. Chestnut, upon finding out the specifics on Thursday morning, remarked, “Yeah, he sounded upset.” This comment followed an Aug. 20 post from Kobayashi on X, formerly Twitter, about their joint appearance on the TODAY Show on Aug. 19 to promote the Netflix event.

During the TODAY Show appearance, co-host Savannah Guthrie highlighted the intense rivalry. In response, Chestnut, with a smile, said, “He still has me blocked on Instagram.” Kobayashi attempted to respond but seemed at a loss for words. A translation of his post later indicated his frustration: “He knew that I was not good at English and it would be difficult for me to refute him. His cowardly and vulgar personality hasn’t changed.”

Chestnut countered, stating, “I don’t think I was vulgar or cowardly. … I genuinely felt bad when he was having a hard time talking and moved the conversation.” Kobayashi did not immediately respond to a request for comment relayed through Netflix.

The animosity isn’t new. In July, Chestnut mentioned that Kobayashi did not speak to him when they met twice to tape promos for Netflix. Kobayashi addressed this in an interview with USA TODAY Sports, recalling how Chestnut treated him during their competitive days, mentioning “discriminatory, derogatory comments” made by Chestnut. Kobayashi also noted that watching the ESPN 30-for-30 documentary “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry” stirred up old feelings, making it difficult to be friendly with Chestnut.

Chestnut, on the other hand, expressed confusion about the alleged comments. Reflecting on their broken relationship since 2010, he admitted, “I could have handled things differently. Probably should have.”

One of the key points of contention is the rules for the upcoming contest. Kobayashi requested that dunking hot dog buns in water be prohibited during the 10-minute contest in Las Vegas. This practice has been a staple in competitive eating, helping stars like Chestnut and Kobayashi rise to fame. Kobayashi explained, “There are a lot of athletes (who) through the dunking process managed to disintegrate, melt the bun in the water and a lot of cheating can occur.” He clarified that he’s not accusing Chestnut of cheating.

Chestnut speculated that Kobayashi might be trying to gain an edge, as he last beat Chestnut at a non-dunking contest in 2009. Chestnut also mentioned that Kobayashi demanded other rules, such as prohibiting the separation of the hot dog from the bun and pouring water on the hot dog, and agreed to these conditions to keep the contest from falling through. However, Kobayashi stated he merely proposed the rules, but Netflix has since referred to them as “Kobayashi’s rules.”

Discussing the dunking issue, Chestnut mentioned that in the past, slower eaters would dunk for a long time, letting the food disintegrate. To address this, Major League Eating introduced a 5-second dunk rule. For the Netflix contest, Chestnut offered to reduce the dunking time even further, but Kobayashi declined.

Both Chestnut and Kobayashi have used the dunking technique extensively in their Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contests. Of the five contests they’ve both entered, Chestnut won three, while Kobayashi took two.

Source: USA TODAY