Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi at odds over divisive rule for ‘Unfinished Beef’ Netflix clash

Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi are beefing over the rules for their Netflix special showdown on Monday. 

The pair of legendary professional eaters won’t be allowed to dunk or pour water on their hot dogs in the 10-minute contest, according to a set of rules released by Netflix on Thursday. 

It’s a departure from most professional eating contests like Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July, which allows competitors to douse their glizzies in water. 

The rule came about after a special request from Kobayashi, who said dunking is too often used as a crutch for competition eaters.

“There are a lot of athletes (who) through the dunking process managed to disintegrate, melt the bun in the water and a lot of cheating can occur,” he told USA TODAY Sports via am interpreter.

Kobayashi insisted he merely proposed the no-dunking rule rather than force Netflix to implement it, per the outlet, but Chestnut had a different view on how the rule came to be. 

Chestnut suggested to USA Today that Kobayashi demanded the rule after having last beaten him in a no-dunking contest at the 2009 Krystal Square Off when they competed at scarfing down hamburgers.

He suggested a sort of middle ground like a reduced dunking time.

“Years ago there was a problem with slower eaters dunking for a long time and letting food fall apart in their cups,” Chestnut said. “The faster eaters were moving too fast to make it an issue. (Major League Eating) added a rule that limited how long you can dunk the buns. A 5-second dunk rule.”

Kobayashi is looking to even up the pair’s all-time record; in five contests they squared off in, Chestnut has won three of them to Kobayashi’s two. 

The Netflix special comes a month after represent a different brand, Impossible Foods.