I Watched Two Guys Eat 150 Hot Dogs — Here's How It Changed Me

If you had told me last week that I would be brought to tears by a hot dog eating contest, I wouldn’t have believed you.

But there I was in the HyperX Arena in Las Vegas, watching the two best professional eaters in the world, doused in water and sweat as they down dozens of wieners, and I found myself feeling moved. Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi faced off this afternoon live on Netflix in Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, and I was lucky enough to be in the audience. 

There’s a common misconception that competitive eating is easy — that as long as you have a big mouth, a big appetite, and perhaps a low gag reflex, you could stand a chance in a hot dog eating contest. But to Chestnut and Kobayashi, both of whom have been competing for approximately 20 years, it is a sport. They train like athletes, practice like athletes, focus like athletes, and just like other athletes at the top of their game, they have fierce rivalries. 

Chestnut and Kobayashi, widely recognized as the two strongest competitive eaters in the world, have a complicated relationship — one that is riddled with controversy, respect, envy, and appreciation. And one that (most likely) culminated at the HyperX Arena today.

Here's everything to know about their beef.

Who is Takeru Kobayashi?

Born and raised in Nagoro, Japan, 46-year-old Kobayashi is known as the “Godfather of Competitive Eating.” When he first entered the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest in 2001, he absolutely obliterated the competition, eating a record-breaking 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes — that’s twice the number of hot dogs that the previous year’s winner, Kazutoyo Arai, ate. 

That moment changed the scope of competitive eating. “It was impressive seeing a little man eat so many hot dogs,” Chestnut told me in an interview. “That contest became the biggest contest in competitive eating and it drove me to be a competitive eater.”

With an increased demand for eating competitions, Major League Eating began producing more events (eventually partnering with ESPN to air the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest), and Kobayashi became a celebrity. He starred in multiple commercials, made cameos in television shows like The Simpsons, and continued to compete in various eating competitions around the world.  

For a long time, Kobayashi had a reputation for being unbeatable — until, that is, he battled against a Kodiak bear. In 2003, Kobayashi participated in an episode of Fox’s original series, Man vs. Beast, where he was tasked with eating 50 hot dogs at a faster rate than an actual bear. Unfortunately, by the time the bear cleared his plate, Kobayashi still had 20 hot dogs to go. 

While silly, this loss provided some hope to aspiring competitive eaters like Joey Chestnut. If a bear could beat Kobayashi, maybe he could too. 

Who is Joey Chestnut?

Hailing from Kentucky, Chestnut entered the competitive eating game in 2005 at a fried asparagus competition — he came in first place, defeating a then-top-ranked eater, Rich LeFevre. He participated in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest later that year, and while his performance was strong for a rookie (he ate 32 hot dogs and came in third place), he could not out-eat Kobayashi. He came much closer the following year — Chestnut and Kobayashi were neck and neck with 52 and 53 ¾ hot dogs. Chestnut suddenly became a threat to Kobayashi, but the competition only motivated them further. 

According to Chestnut, who is now 40 years old, every time they competed against each other, they were determined to do their absolute best. And in 2007, that meant eating 66 hot dogs at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest — three more than Kobayashi and a new world record. 

Why are Chestnut and Kobayashi rivals?

There was a lot of drama surrounding that 2007 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Prior to the competition, Kobayashi announced that he had experienced a jaw injury that prevented him from being able to open his jaw widely (what Major League Eating coins as “jawthritis”). There was a lot of speculation surrounding whether or not Kobayashi was lying about his injury — that maybe he was just afraid to lose. Chestnut only fueled the fires, agreeing with the conspiracy theories. 

In ESPN’s documentary, 30 for 30: The Good, The Bad, and The Hungry, Kobayashi admitted to feeling hurt by these comments. It broke his trust, and very well may be a large reason why they never formed a friendship. 

Chestnut continued to beat Kobayashi in 2008 and 2009, setting new world records every year. His rise to popularity subsequently led to somewhat of a downfall for Kobayashi. As detailed in The Bad, and The Hungry, the press framed the rivalry between Chestnut and Kobayashi as America vs. Japan, meaning that at competitions like Nathan’s, which occurs on the 4th of July, Kobayashi was the villain. 

This was heartbreaking for Kobayashi, who had been so grateful for the fans that he had garnered in the United States. He began pulling away from Major League Foods competitions, participating in more events in Japan. But, at the time, this was strictly against his contract, which required him to only compete in Major League Eating events. So, Kobayashi was not allowed to compete in the 2010 hot dog eating contest — but he did decide to watch in the audience. During the competition, the crowd’s cheers for Kobayashi inspired him to run on the stage. Security swiftly pulled him off, only worsening the rift between Kobayashi and Major League Eating. 

Kobayashi never competed in a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest again, leaving Chestnut to dominate every year, excluding a 2015 fluke when he lost against Matt Stonie, and this year, when Chestnut was banned from competing due to his brand partnership with plant-based meat company, Impossible Foods.

While Chestnut and Kobayashi are still recognized as the best eaters in the world, they haven’t competed against each other in 15 years. And that’s not the only reason why today’s competition was so impactful.

Why does Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef matter?

Earlier this year, Kobayashi announced that he plans on retiring from competitive eating in Netflix’s documentary, Hack Your Health. He described how he no longer experiences hunger. “He thinks he might be broken,” said his wife, Maggie James. “He doesn’t feel hungry or full. He doesn’t feel those things at all.” In an effort to improve his health, Kobayashi has decided to step away from competitive eating once and for all — but not until he competes against Chestnut one last time.

“This isn’t just any match. This is the match of my rival,” said Kobayashi in a press conference. “I came here to win, and I would love to eat more than Chestnut.”

For Chestnut, this means that this competition is the last chance he has to prove he is a superior eater to Kobayashi. “Worst case scenario is he wins and I can’t ever defeat him,” he told me yesterday. And even if Kobayashi loses, Chestnut will still be losing the person who motivated him the most. “It’ll be weird not having him in the back of my mind. If he ever really walks away, it’ll be kind of sad. I’ve been doing this for 19 years and I know very few competitive eaters who leave. They love it too much.”

What were the rules?

Like all eating competitions, Netflix’s Unfinished Beef had some strict rules. The hot dog eating contest would be 10 minutes long, with a three-minute overtime in the event of a tie. There would be penalties for rule breaking or regurgitation (ew), and participants must finish all crumbs and scraps for a hot dog to count. Most surprising of them all — Chestnut and Kobayashi were not allowed to separate the buns, dip their hot dogs in water, or pour water over their hot dogs. (And in case you were wondering, they were served Ball Park dogs on Great Value buns.)

At Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, it has become the norm for participants to separate the the hot dogs and dip the bun in water — a technique that Kobayashi invented back in 2005. But Kobayashi was actually the one who requested this rule change from Netflix. “I said no dunking would be my preference because it looks clean and it makes it more fair,” he said. “It also makes it easier to cheat when you dunk the bun. Once the bun gets messy it’s hard to tell if you’re missing part of it. So everybody agrees that it’s clean, simple, and fair, and it’s nicer for everyone to watch as well.”

This created a new challenge for Chestnut and Kobayashi alike, who had to practice new techniques for eating their hot dogs dry. But as an audience member, I’m relieved I didn’t have to witness the two competitors getting covered in soggy buns. 

Who won: Chestnut or Kobayashi?

At 12 p.m. in Las Vegas, a crowd of fans gathered to watch Chestnut and Kobayashi compete for $100,000 and a custom WWE belt. The crowd was split between Team Chestnut and Team Kobayashi, with several fans wearing hot dog suits sprinkled throughout. At one point, a baby wearing a weiner suit was lifted into the air — people cheered and “The Circle of Life” played. Hosts Rob Riggle and Nikki Garcia pumped up the crowd, but clearly, we were already pretty pumped.

Before Chestnut and Kobayashi came out, two more mini competitions took place at the Luxor Hotel’s Oasis Pool. Matt Stonie (who beat Chestnut in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest in 2015), was challenged to eat more chicken wings than three Olympic swimmers in three minutes.

As someone who hasn’t watched many eating competitions, this was a great teaser. Underneath all the sweat and chicken grease, it was clear that Stonie has trained for a competition like this — he knew the best way to pull chicken off the bone quickly. He knew the right point to breathe even when his mouth was full of food. He knew how to hold back the need to gag — something the Olympians had a whole lot of trouble with. In the end, Stonie ate 53 wings, while the Olympians ate only 36 total. 

Next, Leah Shutkever attempted to break the world record for the most watermelon in three minutes, which stood at 1,750 grams. Shutkever completed this task easily (and relatively cleanly!), downing 2,500 grams of watermelon with 30 seconds to spare. Riggle compared her to a boa constrictor — an astute comparison. The way she’s able to practically swallow a watermelon wedge whole then immediately follow it up with another is practically animalistic.

Then, after much anticipation, Chestnut and Kobayashi made their entrances. They were both serious. Focused. Also, I must note that Kobayashi, who had shoulder-length hair yesterday, came out with a fresh buzz cut, as if he prepared himself for war.

As an onlooker, there seems to be no thought of “pacing yourself” during a 10-minute hot dog eating contest. Both Chestnut and Kobayashi sprinted those glizzies into their mouths from the moment the timer began. It was chaos from the first second, but organized chaos. The rivals have a rhythm to how they eat their hot dogs: when to pick up a dog, when to shove it in their mouth, when to pick up a cup of water, and when there’s any room in your mouth to drink that water. It’s gross to watch, don’t get me wrong, but the sheer technique and talent of it all makes it hard to look away. 

Chestnut maintained a lead from the very beginning, and as the timer ticked, the difference between his and Kobayashi’s dogs only got larger. At about the three-minute mark, it became clear that Kobayashi wasn't going to win — a realization that was surprisingly gut-wrenching. Part of me really wanted him to pull through — to make a statement before retiring. 

After weighing the leftover scraps, the winner was determined once and for all: Chestnut ate a whopping, world record-breaking 83 hot dogs. That’s approximately 12,533 calories and 132.8 ounces of hot dog. And while Kobayashi may not have won, he beat his personal best record at 66 hot dogs. 

With bloated bellies and a beefy stench, Chestnut and Kobayashi waved to the crowd. But still, they didn’t hug, shake hands, or even make eye contact. So did this competition finally end their rivalry? Did it squash the beef? Only time will tell, but if you ask me — the dog days are nowhere close to over.