Joey Chestnut Confirms 2026 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Return After 17th Title

Joey Chestnut, 17-time champion of the Nathan's annual Hot Dog Eating Contest, will be back at Coney Island in 2026 for another shot at breaking his own record.

"I'll be back next year," Chestnut said on the ESPN broadcast after winning the 2025 contest.

Chestnut returned after a one-year ban from the competition to claim the Mustard Belt on Friday by eating 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.

That total bested defending champion Patrick Bertoletti, who finished in second place with 46.5, but came short of the competition-record 76 hot dogs and buns Chestnut ate in 2021.

Chestnut told ESPN before the competition that he would need to be at about 48 to 50 hot dogs before the five-minute mark to have a shot at breaking his own record.

"Things are going to have to be a perfect rhythm," Chestnut said.

Chestnut came just short at that mark, hitting the five-minute mark at 46 hot dogs and buns, according to the ESPN broadcast. He ate a final hot dog and bun at the buzzer to pass 70 total.

"I wish I ate a couple more, sorry guys," Chestnut told the crowd after the official tally of 70.5 came in. "My goal was 70 to 77. I really wanted a little bit more."

Chestnut set the all-time record for hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes during a head-to-head competition with Takeru Kobayashi that aired on Netflix last Labor Day, when he downed 83 hot dogs and buns.

He had eaten at least 70 hot dogs in five straight Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests leading up to his record-breaking performance in 2021, but saw his numbers drop slightly with 63 in 2022 and 62 in 2023.

The 17-time champion will hope his return to the 70 hot-dog threshold at Coney Island is a sign he's on track to set a new record when he returns next summer.

Chestnut will turn 42 in November. Since he won his first Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest victory as a 23-year-old in 2007, the event has only crowned two other winners: Matt Stonie, who beat Chestnut in 2015, and Bertoletti, who won while Chestnut was banned for a sponsorship conflict in 2024.