Joey Chestnut is to competitive eating what Magnus Carlsen is to chess or Michael Phelps is to swimming. Born to dominate their sports, live to be a record maker, as the world accepts your greatness. That’s why Joey Chestnut’s return to the Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest is special. The 4th of July contest again had the iconic vibes about it in 2025, all thanks to the living legend from Kentucky, who won his record 17th mustard belt. But before he did it, he had a clear message for his competition. Are you ready?

Because Joey Chestnut surely was. CBS Sports shared a tweet on July 3rd where the 17-time Champ was talking about how he was approaching the Contest. And the caption said it all. Chestnut’s own words, “Victory, whatever it takes… It’s possible I can do a record.” Well, never say never. When there’s Joey Chestnut, there’s a way.

As he spoke to host Jenny Dell about his strategy, the 2023 Champion said, “I’m going to find my rhythm. I go in looking at the weather. The weather could be rough tomorrow, but no matter what, I want to hit 70 hot dogs.” In case the weather thing takes you by surprise, this ain’t the first time the GOAT of competitive eating talked about the weather and other conditions when talking about a good performance.

On July 2nd, he appeared on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast. And talking about the world record, he mentioned, “It’ll take perfect conditions, like not too hot, not too windy. If it’s windy, the hot dogs get cold … you have to have enough warmth, like 78 degrees, 75.” And also, the hot dogs gotta be just right for the maestro: “You need to have, like fast buns, and warm dogs.”

Well, Nathan’s only brings the best, after all, they are a century-old shop specializing in burgers and hot dogs, and just the American way of life. But as far as Joey Chestnut was concerned and his contest on July 4th, he seemed to have it all worked out, as he had shared with CBS Sports. “If I find that perfect rhythm, I can go up, I see myself getting up to 78,” the King of competitive eating said. “It’s very possible. It’s possible I can do a record, but I just gotta find that perfect rhythm.”

Whoever you were, Patrick Bertoletti, Nick Wehry, or the self-proclaimed challenger Cameron Meade, you had your work cut out, like always. Because Joey Chestnut had his game face on. And he kept his word.

Joey Chestnut is a man of science and preparation

When the San Jose University graduate isn’t going through 70 hot dogs like it’s his par standard, the 41-year-old spends his time as a construction engineer. But all that changes when a contest is approaching. And he has a tried and tested method he follows, which he shared on the Pardon My Take podcast. “Every fifth or sixth day, I’m doing practices. And so, I’m in the cycle, I call it.”

And how does it go? “Before every practice, there’s a cleanse,” said the 16-time Champ. “After every practice, there’s a recovery period where it’s super high fiber food trying to get back to normal. And then there’s one day of normal eating. Then there’s the cleanse again. Then another practice.” He is the expert, so we will leave it at that. Whatever he has followed has gotten him convincing results.

From 2016 to 2021, Joey Chestnut has crossed the 70-mark every time. In 2022, he did 63, and it was still 15 more than 2nd-placed Geoffrey Esper. In 2023, Chestnut’s number stood at 62, 13 more than Esper’s. And the icon has done it again. In 2025, in his return to the Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest, the man sat down with his plate of hot dogs. And when the 10-minute buzzer hit, the count showed 70.5 hot dogs and buns downed by the legend. What did he say to CBS? “No matter what, I want to hit 70 hot dogs.”

Joey Chestnut is truly the greatest competitive eater that ever lived. The only question is how many Mustard Belts he collects before he finally calls it a day.