The legendary Joey Chestnut has taken wild ride to become GOAT of the Hot Dog Eating Contest

At this point, nary Fourth of July is implicit without Joey Chestnut.

Americans everyplace volition tally to their tv sets astatine noon connected America's 250th day arsenic the world's top eater volition purpose to devour 1 blistery canine for each twelvemonth the U.S. has been successful existence.

OK, that mightiness beryllium a stretch, but it is already a foregone decision that Chestnut volition gain his 18th Mustard Yellow Belt successful 19 attempts connected Saturday afternoon.

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Joey Chestnut wins the men's contention astatine Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest successful New York City connected July 4, 2025. He returned to vie for a 17th triumph aft missing the 2024 lawsuit owed to a sponsorship quality with Major League Eating. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

The greatness began successful 2007, ending a tally of six consecutive titles won by erstwhile GOAT Takeru Kobayashi, who really injured his jaw up of that contest. Chestnut's 66 blistery dogs defeated Kobayashi's 63 successful a preview of a legendary vocation to follow.

A rivalry ensued betwixt the two, with Chestnut narrowly beating Kobayashi the adjacent 2 years, including via a tiebreaking eat-off successful 2008. When Kobayashi was banned from the lawsuit successful 2010, Chestnut took off.

Chestnut had won each rubric from 2007 done 2014, but helium was the unfortunate of a monolithic upset successful 2015 to Matt Stonie, losing 62-60. But Stonie's glory was short-lived, and Chestnut went connected to triumph each of the adjacent 8 events.

There was a caller champion successful 2024, but not due to the fact that Chestnut mislaid - helium really was barred from competing aft signing a marque woody with a Nathan's rival. After overmuch backmost and forth, Chestnut was allowed backmost successful for the 2025 lawsuit with conscionable weeks to spare, and helium reclaimed the rubric with 70.5 dogs and buns.

Joey Chestnut visits "The Claman Countdown" with big Liz Claman astatine Fox Business Network Studios connected July 02, 2025 successful New York City. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

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"It was great. The assemblage is awesome, it's electric. It's bully to beryllium backmost aft mending immoderate fences," Chestnut precocious told Fox News Digital of his instrumentality past year. "I bash what I love. I got the champion occupation successful the world. I get to eat, travel, bushed the heck retired of people, and conscionable blessed people. So it was large to beryllium back."

Not each of Chestnut's titles person travel easily. In 2022, Chestnut's eating was interrupted by a protester, but helium miraculously enactment him successful a chokehold and went backmost to business; helium inactive managed to down 63 dogs and buns.

Even his apt title connected Saturday volition not travel without a wrinkle, arsenic his 2026 eligibility was really successful uncertainty for a small spot amid a complaint of battery. Chestnut drunkenly slapped a antheral astatine a barroom successful Indiana and pleaded blameworthy to the complaint successful April. He is presently serving 180 days of probation, but was granted support to question for the event.

His all-time grounds is 76, which helium acceptable backmost successful 2021. It broke his ain grounds of 75 from the twelvemonth prior, which bushed different erstwhile grounds of 74 from 2018.

And portion astir are watching for 1 reason, Chestnut believes that this lawsuit is overmuch much than conscionable watching him.

FILE - Joey Chestnut, victor of the 2021 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest, poses for photos successful Coney Island's Maimonides Park, July 4, 2021, successful the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)

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"It's ne'er astir me," helium said to Fox News successful May. "It's not adjacent astir the blistery dogs. It's the Fourth of July. It's an eating contest, but really, it's a Fourth of July celebration, it's a solemnisation successful New York. And that contest, it's hard to picture exactly.

"It's an event, it's much than conscionable an eating contest. It's portion of the Fourth of July solemnisation for New York City, and I'm conscionable a precise small portion of it. And erstwhile it comes to that celebration, I'm precise blessed that I was capable to travel backmost and beryllium portion of people's Fourth of July."

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