One of the great July 4th traditions is the Nathan's Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest. Since Takeru Kobayashi hit the competitive eating scene 2001 and ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes, this annual contest receives a ton of media attention. However, Kobayashi has not competed in the Nathan's Hot Dog Contest since 2009 due to a contractual disagreement with Major League Eating (MLE). The organization that sanctions the Nathan's contest claimed that Kobayashi did not have permission to compete in outside competitive eating events. Without the world's most famous hot dog champ at Coney Island, Joey Chestnut has taken over as the master of the frankfurter.

Yesterday, Chestnut devoured 72 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes to win his tenth Nathan's Yellow Mustard Belt. Here is the exciting action where Chestnut displays his mastery of the Solomon Method, which is where you break the hot dog bun into two pieces and eat. Kobayashi introduced this to the world in the 2002 contest, and everyone, including Chestnut uses the same method today.

In case you're wondering about Kobayashi, he is getting creative with his competitive eating challenges. Instead of going mouth to mouth with Joey Chestnut, the 39-year old native of Nagano, Japan is taking on tiny hampsters. The video is hilarious and Kobayashi seems to be in hurry to return to Nathan's Coney Island in early July.

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