Joey "Jaws" Chestnut.
The Vallejo kid who dethroned a Japanese legend, broke the record seven times, and ate 22,000 calories in ten minutes on national television.
Before Joey Chestnut, the Mustard Belt was a Japanese export. A 130-pound contestant named Takeru Kobayashi had walked into Coney Island in 2001, eaten fifty hot dogs, and made the entire American competitive-eating establishment look like it was playing a different sport. For six straight years, Kobayashi owned the belt. The American challengers came and went. None of them looked like a 6'1", 230-pound construction-trade kid from Vallejo, California — until one of them did.
The Vallejo arrival
Joseph Christian Chestnut grew up the second of six kids in the East Bay. He came up through Major League Eating's regional qualifiers in 2005 — a kid in his early twenties who could quietly put away forty-five hot dogs in the qualifier and then ride the Greyhound home. He finished third at Nathan's that year. Second in 2006. He was the next-best American by a wide margin, but Kobayashi was still on a different plane.
Then came 2007.
The takedown
Chestnut showed up to Coney Island on July 4, 2007 having eaten 59½ in a qualifier — a number that suggested the gap was closing. The contest itself was a heavyweight bout. Kobayashi pushed his pace. Chestnut matched him. With seconds left, both men were dunking, splitting, swallowing in choreographed efficiency. The final count: Chestnut 66, Kobayashi 63. The American competitive-eating press literally cried.
"That was a transfer of power. I don't think anyone fully realized at the time that we'd just watched the start of the longest dynasty in the history of competitive eating."
The reign
From 2007 through 2014, Chestnut won eight consecutive belts. The 2008 contest produced one of the only overtime hot dog eat-offs in contest history — Chestnut and Kobayashi tied at 59, then ate five more apiece in the tiebreaker, with Chestnut edging the final dog. In 2009 he set a new world record at 68. By 2013, the contest had been cut from 12 minutes to 10, and Chestnut still ate 69. There were years when his closest competitor finished ten dogs behind.
In 2015, the streak ended. Matt "Megatoad" Stonie — a 5'8" Californian half Chestnut's bodyweight — upset him 62 to 60. The crowd was stunned. Chestnut went home, retooled his training, and returned in 2016 to eat 70 — the first 70-hot-dog finish in history.
The 76
The pandemic year of 2020 was eaten with no crowd and Chestnut still managed 75. The next year, July 4, 2021, in a return to a full Coney Island crowd, he hit 76 — about 22,000 calories of beef and bun in ten minutes, or one hot dog every 7.89 seconds. The record still stands. No one else has broken 73.
"I'm not done. I'm not retiring. I want 80." — Joey Chestnut, post-contest interview, July 4, 2021
The chokehold and the ban
In 2022, a climate protester rushed the Coney Island stage mid-contest. Chestnut put him in a chokehold, returned to his table, and finished the contest. He still won. The clip went everywhere.
The drama of 2024 was bigger. Major League Eating informed Chestnut he could not compete because he had signed a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods — a plant-based meat company. Chestnut argued the deal didn't conflict with Nathan's. MLE held firm. He sat out, ate sixty hot dogs in a Netflix special against Kobayashi instead, and watched Patrick Bertoletti win Coney Island with 58.
The 2025 return
The dispute was resolved by spring 2025. Chestnut returned to Coney Island and ate 70.5. It was the highest non-pandemic total since his own 76. The Mustard Belt came back to Vallejo. He turned 42 that November. He says he's not done.
Where he ranks
Across competitive eating, Chestnut holds more than fifty world records — chicken wings, ribs, asparagus, deep-fried asparagus, Twinkies, gyoza, tamales, and on and on. But Nathan's is the headline. He is the most-decorated champion of the most-watched competitive eating event in the world. The number 17 is not in danger. No one else has more than eight.
The next contest is in just over a month. He's the favorite. He's always the favorite. Here's how to watch.
Year-by-year
| Year | Result | HDB | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1st | 66 | Dethrones Kobayashi 66–63. World record. |
| 2008 | 1st | 59 | Five-dog overtime tiebreaker vs Kobayashi. |
| 2009 | 1st | 68 | New world record. |
| 2010 | 1st | 54 | Kobayashi banned over contract dispute. |
| 2011 | 1st | 62 | First separate women's contest debuts. |
| 2012 | 1st | 68 | |
| 2013 | 1st | 69 | Contest cut to 10 minutes. |
| 2014 | 1st | 61 | |
| 2015 | 2nd | 60 | Upset by Matt Stonie 62–60. |
| 2016 | 1st | 70 | First-ever 70-dog finish. |
| 2017 | 1st | 72 | |
| 2018 | 1st | 74 | New world record. |
| 2019 | 1st | 71 | |
| 2020 | 1st | 75 | COVID contest, no crowd. WR. |
| 2021 | 1st | 76 | The 76. Still stands. |
| 2022 | 1st | 63 | Chokeholds a heckler mid-contest. |
| 2023 | 1st | 62 | |
| 2024 | DNQ | — | Banned over Impossible Foods deal. |
| 2025 | 1st | 70.5 | The return. 17th belt. |