LAS VEGAS — After not competing in this summer's July 4 hot dog-eating contest, Joey Chestnut is back on top.
Chestnut proved his place on the Mount Rushmore of sports legends by defeating his rival Takeru Kobayashi in a hot dog-eating contest streamed live Monday on Netflix.
Chestnut inhaled 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes to Kobayashi's 66 hot dogs in their first faceoff in 15 years.
Chestnut, 40, earned a $100,000 grand prize in the competition, dubbed "Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef," at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Kobayashi, 46, announced his retirement this year, but he said he would return for redemption against Chestnut. Kobayashi subsequently announced his retirement after the Netflix competition.
"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."
Chestnut was absent from this year's July 4 contest at Nathan's in Coney Island. The reigning Nathan's men’s champion and winner of 16 out of 17 previous competitions, Chestnut didn’t attend over a sponsorship tiff. Patrick Bertoletti ate 58 hot dogs to win the July 4 competition.