On Thursday, Netflix revealed the rules for the highly anticipated hot dog eating battle between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. However, these rules are unlikely to mend the rift between the two competitive eating legends, who will clash for the first time in 15 years.

Dubbed “Unfinished Beef,” this contest, which will be streamed live on Netflix on Monday, seems to be surrounded by more drama.

“Yeah, he seemed pretty upset,” said Chestnut, referring to revelations he had on Thursday morning.

This came after reading a post from Kobayashi’s X account (previously Twitter) discussing their joint appearance on the TODAY Show on August 19 to promote the Netflix event.

During the show, co-host Savannah Guthrie remarked, “By the way, the rivalry is real.” Chestnut then smiled and added, “He still has me blocked on Instagram.”

Kobayashi, seemingly caught off-guard, struggled to articulate his thoughts. A translation of his post suggested Kobayashi believed that Chestnut was taking advantage of his limited English skills, interpreting Chestnut’s behavior as cowardly and vulgar.

Chestnut responded, “I wouldn’t describe my behavior as vulgar or cowardly. I genuinely felt sympathy when he struggled to express himself and tried to steer the conversation away from that.”

Kobayashi has not yet replied to a comment request made by his publicist.

In July, Chestnut mentioned that Kobayashi ignored him during two promotional meetings with Netflix. Kobayashi later discussed this in an interview with YSL News Sports.

“I reflected on how he treated me during our competitive days, including the bad comments he made about me,” he noted.

Kobayashi also shared that watching “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry,” an ESPN 30-for-30 documentary about their rivalry, rekindled many feelings towards Chestnut.

“So, pretending to be buddies with him after such a long time was simply not possible for me.”

In response, Chestnut expressed confusion over the alleged derogatory remarks and acknowledged that their relationship began to deteriorate in 2010. He admitted, “I could have managed things differently. I probably should have.”

Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi at Odds Over Contest Rules

Kobayashi stated that he requested one of the new regulations due to concerns about cheating.

During the upcoming ten-minute event in Las Vegas, contestants will not be allowed to dunk hot dog buns in water, a practice that has been a core component of their previous contests.

“There are athletes who, with the dunking method, manage to break down the bun in the water, which could lead to cheating,” Kobayashi explained to YSL News Sports via a translator.

However, he clarified that he is not accusing Chestnut of any cheating.

Chestnut speculated that Kobayashi might be trying to gain an advantage since he last defeated Chestnut in a bun-dunk-free contest — the hamburger competition at the 2009 Krystal Square Off. He further mentioned that Kobayashi insisted on certain rules, including prohibiting the separation of the hot dog from the bun and applying water to the hot dog, suggesting that he agreed to them to ensure the contest would proceed.

Kobayashi claimed he merely suggested the rules, but Netflix has branded them as “Kobayashi’s rules.”

Regarding the dunking rule, Chestnut commented, “In the past, there were issues with slower eaters taking excessive time dunking and letting food disintegrate. The faster eaters were too quick for it to matter. Major League Eating implemented a rule to limit dunking time, which is now restricted to five seconds.”

Chestnut added that he offered to shorten the dunking time for the Netflix contest, but Kobayashi refused.

In the previous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contests where both competed, Chestnut won three out of five contests, while Kobayashi took two.