Competitive eater Matt Stonie is the last guy to beat Joey Chestnut at the annual Fourth of July Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York when he upset the champ in 2015 with a stunning 62-dog performance.
Since he won the title in 2015, Stonie has become a YouTube megastar with over 8.4 million subscribers and 1.5 billion views.
Stonie is only 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds but he can stomach away a mountain of food. He held multiple eating records during his professional career including birthday cakes, tacos, bacon, McDonald’s Happy Meal, Big Macs, Moon Pies, silver dollar pancakes, Peeps, ribs, and pork rolls.
NATHAN’S HOT DOG EATING CONTEST CHAMPS (SINCE 2001)
2001-2006 Takeru Kobayashi
2007-2014 Joey Chestnut
2015 Matt Stonie
2016-2018 Joey Chestnut
Joey Chestnut won the last three years in a row and 11 Nathan’s titles out of the last 12 years. Chestnut set a new record last year with 74 hot dogs. He crushed the field with 72 dogs in 2017.
Nathan’s rules are simple: winner consumes the most hot dogs inside ten minutes and no puking.
Chestnut admitted that age is catching up to him. He has not had the opportunity to practice as much, but he still the GOAT when it comes to competitive eating ever since he dethroned the might Takeru Kobayashi’s string of six consecutive victories between 2001-2006.
Chestnut comes into this year’s hot dog eating contest as the favorite. In a prop with Bovada, “Will Joey Chestnut Win?”, yes is -1000 while no is +550.
In a Matt Stonie vs. Joey Chestnut heads-up-head battle, Chestnut is the favorite at -750. However, you can get Stonie at a heady +420.
A Star Is Born on YouTube
Stonie, 23 at the time he won the Nathan’s Contest in 2015, seemed like he came out of nowhere. But his loyal fanbase were already aware of what he could do based on his videos.
Matt Stonie caught the eye of the public when the teenager from San Jose posted eating videos on his YouTube account under his username Megatoad (inspired from Super Mario Brothers world).
For his first video back in 2012, Stonie chugged a gallon of Gatorade in 37 seconds. He has not stopped since and passed 1 billion views in the summer of 2018.
The rather small Stonie took advantage of the all-you-can-eat pasta special at Olive Garden, which became a viral hit.
In his early days, Stonie crushed California classic fast food eateries like In-N-Out Burger. In an early video, he destroy four 4×4 cheeseburgers. In another, he went attempted a world record with an assault on a 37×37. He once ate 22 Big Macs in 22 minutes. He then broke the record with 25 Big Macs in one sitting under 22 minutes).
Megatoad Will Eat… Anything
Stonie’s YouTube account is a fascinating wormhole of competitive eating. If you ever wondered how long it takes to eat 48 popsicles, or 5 Philly cheesesteaks, or 100 string cheese, then tune it to his channel and find out. A deep dive will be equally entertaining and horrifying. Beware, his videos will make you hungry.
The Megatoad crushed carious fast food staples like 5 Subway footlongs, White Castle Harold and Kumar Challenge, Popeye’s Family Meal, KFC Buckets, and Taco Bell 12-pack of tacos.
Stonie posted several hysterical videos, including the time he almost went blind during a Buffalo Wild Wings “Blazing Wings” Challenge. He accidentally got “Blazing” hot sauce in his eye and all hell broke loose.
