Just as Michael Jordan switched to baseball after years of dominating the NBA, 18-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut has ventured into a new league.
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The reigning hot dog eating champion set a record on Sunday, Sept. 26, at the World Pancake Eating Championship, where he devoured 40 flapjacks in 10 minutes flat.
Chestnut, a first-time World Pancake Eating Championship participant, surpassed the previous record of 35 pancakes in his debut.
Despite never competing before, Chestnut oozed confidence and promised to shatter a record entering the World Pancake Eating Championship.
Ahead of the competition, Chestute told WYDaily that "perfect rhythm of breathing and biting, chewing and swallowing" would be key to winning. He also revealed he did not eat solid food on Friday to prepare.
Instead, he stuck with a high-fiber, no-sugar diet throughout the week, the outlet reported.
Chestnut won the $25,000 first-place prize at the second-annual World Pancake Eating Competition.
Joey Chestnut Piles on the Wins
It is his third eating competition win this year. Chestnut secured his record 18th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition win on Independence Day. The Kentucky native consumed a whopping 66 hot dogs in ten minutes, totaling 18,000 calories. The eye-popping performance at Coney Island cleared runner-up Patrick Bertoletti by 15 hot dogs.
"It's a dream, it's electric, there's no place better on Earth," Chestnut said after polishing off nearly 70 hot dogs.
Chestnut called competitive hot dog eating "the most patriotic sport we've got." He has won each of the last ten Nathan's Hot Dog Contests he's competed in.
"I knew I was going to be able to get the win," Chestnut told ESPN, adding, "I've got so much room left."
More recently, Chestnut won the 2026 Smoke's Poutinerie World Poutine Eating Championship in Toronto.
He ate a staggering 21 and a quarter pounds' worth of poutine to secure the win.
Even so, Chestnut wasn't satisfied and said that his goal was to devour more.
"It'd be nice to get in the mid-20s," he told the Toronto Sun before the contest. "I ate 26 pounds last year. I slowed down a little bit, but it'd be nice to get closer to 28 pounds."
