NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — Competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut will take his hot dog-eating talent to an army base in Texas for Independence Day.

The decision comes after fallout with organizers of the annual 4th of July eating contest at Brooklyn’s Coney Island.

Chestnut, of Indiana, will compete against soldiers in Fort Bliss in El Paso, in a five-minute hot dog-eating contest. That’s instead of the 10-minute Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July challenge, which he hadn’t lost since 2015. In 2021, he set the current record of 76 hot dogs consumed in 10 minutes.

Organizers of that event initially said he couldn’t attend due to a sponsorship conflict, which Chestnut said involved a deal with Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based hot dogs.

Chestnut said he is “gutted” that he can’t compete in the Coney Island event.

“Those people have been sitting in the sun, waiting. They know what to expect. And they’re not shocked. They’re cheering and yelling and pushing me,” Chestnut said Thursday.

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