Big news in the world of competitive eating. Joey Chestnut, the world champion of competitive eating, will not be defending his title this July 4th at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island. However, the hot dog eating champ will be heading to Texas instead.

The news comes after the shocking revelation that Chestnut has been banned from the competition for sponsoring a rival brand, Impossible Foods- a company that develops plant-based substitutes for meat products. That's right, the man who chowed down on Nathan's beef hot dogs is endorsing a plant-based company; you can see why it looks bad!

However, just because he can't compete in the big-time Nathan's hot dog eating contest in New York, doesn't mean he can't compete elsewhere! Chestnut is heading to where everything is bigger- that includes our hot dog eating contests!

Chestnut will join the soldiers at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas for a hot dog eating contest with soldiers at the military base as part of a festival.

With a little help from Impossible Foods, this could be the makings of a new July 4th tradition!

Of course, Impossible Foods will oblige!

Now, will our soldiers take the challenge against Chestnut? I'm sure they're up for the challenge! Here's more from the Associated Press:

Chestnut, of Indiana, will compete against soldiers in Fort Bliss, in El Paso, in a 5-minute hot dog eating contest. That’s instead of the 10-minute Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, where he competed against the world’s top competitive eaters since 2005 and hadn’t lost since 2015. In 2021 he set the current record of 76 hot dogs, in 10 minutes.

So, who are you cheering on this fourth of July? May the odds be in your favor!