Eaters Face Off At Krystal Square Off VI Press Conference

Competitive eaters Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will once again face off on Sunday for the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn.

In less than two days, they’ll face off as sworn enemies at the competitive eating table and battle it out for the biggest prize in competitive eating.

Today though, the top four-ranked eaters – Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Takeru Kobayashi and “Humble” Bob Shoudt – met on amicable terms at the official press conference for the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship, held along the banks of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn. The four gurgitating giants addressed the assembled media as well as traded tips and strategy among themselves for the upcoming event this Sunday, September 27, 2009.

View photos from the press conference below and make sure to check out the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship Weekend Guide for all the details you’ll need.

You can follow @ksquareoff on Twitter for live updates or settle down on the couch and watch the live televised broadcast on Fox SportSouth at 2:30pm on Sunday. If you don’t get Fox SportSouth or are stuck in front of the computer, have no fear because you can watch the KSO Live Stream from the comfort of your monitor.

See more photos here.

Krystal Square Off VI Opening Ceremonies Photo Gallery

No. 2 ranked competitive eater in the world Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti lit the grill to kick off the Krystal Square Off VI Opening Ceremonies yesterday

To kick off the Krystal Square Off VI Qualifying Tour and the festivities in Chattanooga this weekend for the first stop on the tour, competitive eater Pat Bertoletti joined with George Shea and Krystal’s Brad Wahl for a press conference announcing the new Krystal Square Off rules and unveiling Blitz energy drink as the official sponsor of KSO VI. He then lit the grill to kick off the popular Running of the Grill down to the Chattanooga Riverfront as crowds waved and cheered from the roadside.

Check out the photos below:

Big Changes Announced For Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship

With the introduction of Big Angus Burgers and a "No Dunking Rule," two-time defending champ Joey Chestnut will have to rethink his strategy at this year's World Hamburger Eating Championship.

The Krystal Company is shaking up the sport of competitive eating with two new rule changes that will drastically alter the face of the competition at this year’s Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship and make this year’s event the most thrilling and talked about contest in Major League Eating history.

Click here to watch the video of Brad Wahl, The Krystal Company’s vice president of marketing, announcing the major changes.

Click “More” below to read about the two new rule changes.

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Replay Of Krystal Square Off V On FSN South Tonight

If you missed out on watching Joey Chestnut successfully defend his title at the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship on Sunday, or you were there in person and wanted to see if your “Crazy Legs-Palin 2008″ sign made it on television, FSN South is re-airing the one-hour broadcast of Krystal Square Off V tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST. It looks like only Direct TV users will be able to watch this replay but be sure to check listings for when the Krystal Square Off is replaying on your cable provider.

Also, check out this Dutch TV news story on Krystal Square Off V and wait for when the music kicks in. Pretty funny. And watch a Slovenia TV news report on Krystal Square Off V after the jump . . .

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Video: Joey Chestnut Wins World Hamburger Eating Championship

Joey Chestnut proved once again why he is competitive eating’s biggest star on Sunday by besting a field of the finest gurgitators in the world at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. As the video below shows, Chestnut jumped out to a three Krystal-lead in the first minute and never looked back as a massive crowd of 10,000 plus cheered him on.

It was also in the first minute that the race for second was defined as Pat Bertoletti let it be known that this wasn’t just a two-eater race between Takeru Kobayashi and Chestnut, as most had expected. The young Chicagoan with the trademark mohawk drew even with the Japanese eating star during that first 60 seconds and the two went virtually bite-for-bite the rest of the way. In the end, it seemed Kobayashi had come out on top but a two burger deduction by officials put him one behind Bertoletti and into third place overall.

Watch the action unfold in the video below or on YouTube here.

Photo Gallery from Krystal Square Off V

Joey Chestnut Gobbles Up Lion’s Share Of Record Prize Purse At Krystal Square Off V

Hailed as the Super Bowl of competitive eating, the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship annually fields the finest eaters in the world who all have one thing on their minds: winning the title. And while it is the championship belt and trophy they’re after, the prize money always makes a victory taste sweeter, and at Krystal Square Off V yesterday, even a defeat tasted pretty darn good.

A total of $50,000 in prize money was awarded to the 12 gurgitators, making it the largest cash purse in competitive eating history. Joey Chestnut was of course the biggest winner of the bunch, pocketing his largest cash payday ever, $20,000. Pat Bertoletti also earned the biggest prize of his career, taking away $10,000 for his runner-up finish. And even the last place finisher, Kyle Brogdon, who joined the finalist on stage at the very last minute thanks to winning The 12th Eater contest, earned a cool $500.

Below are the official payouts for the 12 finalists:

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, San Jose, Calif. (93 Krystals) – $20,000

Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill., (85 Krystals) – $10,000

Takeru Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, (84 Krystals) – $5,000

“Humble” Bob Shoudt, Philadelphia, Pa. (76 Krystals) – $3,000

Tim “Eater X” Janus, New York, N.Y. (64 Krystals) – $2,500

Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla. (63 Krystals) – $2,000

Juliet “The Lovely” Lee, Germantown, Md. (55 Krystals) – $1,850

Crazy Legs Conti, New York, N.Y. (49 Krystals) – $1,500

Rich “The Locust” LeFevre, Henderson, Nev. (47 Krystals) – $1,400

Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama, Murfreesboro, Tenn. (43 Krystals) – $1,250

Eric “Badlands” Booker, Long Island, N.Y. (41 Krystals) – $1,000

Kyle “12th Eater” Brogdon, Hixson, Tenn. (10 Krystals) – $500

Joey Chestnut Downs 93 Krystals To Repeat As World Hamburger Eating Champion

American eating sensation Joey Chestnut retained his hamburger eating title today at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif. downed 93 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes, ten shy of his world record mark set at last year’s championship.

Billed as the highly anticipated rematch between Chestnut, the No.1-ranked eater in the world, and Japan’s speed-eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, the contest quickly became a one-man show as Chestnut jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as a crowd of 10,000 cheered him on in downtown Chattanooga.

Kobayashi, a three-time Krystal Square Off winner who missed last year’s championship due to a jaw injury, finished in a disappointing third place, eating just 84 Krystals, 13 less than he ate when he won Krystal Square Off III in 2006. Twenty-three-year-old rising star Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti was the second-place spoiler, out-eating Kobayashi by just one Krystal.

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Competitive Eaters Sign Autographs at Hixson Krystal

As part of the events over the Krystal Square Off V weekend, competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi, Patrick Bertoletti and Humble Bob Shoudt went out to the Krystal restaurant in Hixson, Tenn. to sign autographs during the “Sample Saturday” celebration, where customers get to try out Krystal menu items for free and enter to win a $100 gift card.

Fans came out to see their gustatory heroes and get their official Krystal Square Off V event guide signed by four of the best eaters in the world. Once again, both Chestnut and Kobayashi were asked how many Krystals they were planing to eat tomorrow, and both said that they were looking to set a new record and were aiming around the 110 mark. Looks like it’s going to be a close, tense rematch tomorrow. However, even if just for an hour, all four got to hang out with their fans and relax for a little before going back to mentally prepare for the pending showdown.

Here is a quick video of the autograph signing and you can check out some photos here.

Krystal Square Off V Press Conference Photos and Video

Krystal Square Off V officially kicked off the weekend of festivities this afternoon with a pre-event press conference held at Ross’s Landing in Chattanooga. On hand to talk to the media were competitive eaters Pat Bertoletti, Takeru Kobayashi and defending champ Joey Chestnut.

After being introduced by Major League Eating chairman and founder George Shea, Chestnut was asked how many Krystals he was looking to put down this year. His response: 110. Shea’s introduction of the eaters was then followed by an impassioned speech about the importance of the rematch between Chestnut and Kobayashi and a presentation of this year’s championship belt and trophy.

Chestnut and Kobayashi were then filmed and photographed by the media doing a one Krystal eat-off, or what looked like an eat-off. Kobayashi did not actually swallow his Krystal after putting into his mouth; he didn’t want to ruin his preparation for Sunday’s big event which includes keeping his stomach empty from here on out. “You tricked me,” said Chestnut after realizing his rival hadn’t eaten the Krystal.

Below is a quick video recap of the press conference and check out loads of photos from today’s press conference here.

Stay tuned for more Krystal Square Off posts and news throughout the course of the weekend and don’t forget that you can follow the KSO Twitter feed to get instant updates.

EatFeats Readers Pick Takeru Kobayashi Over Joey Chestnut To Win Krystal Square Off V

The fact that Joey Chestnut is the current hamburger-eating world record holder and reigning champ doesn’t seem to carry much weight with readers of the popular competitive eating site EatFeats.com. Consisting mostly of dedicated speed-eating aficionados and pro gurgitators, the site’s readerbase has so far picked Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi over Chestnut by more than 2-to-1 in its latest poll to win Sunday’s Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. Three-time Krystal Square Off king Kobayashi has received 23 votes to Chestnut’s 10 the last we checked.

Currently Pat Bertoletti has received the third most votes (5) followed by Humble Bob Shoudt (4).

All but three eaters–Crazy Legs Conti, Tim Janus and Rich LeFevre–have received at least one vote so far. Even the yet-to-be-picked 12th Eater received a vote, proving that the scientific validity of an open web-based poll may be somewhat questionable.

Click here to cast a vote for who you think will take down the biggest Major League Eating event of the year this Sunday in Chattanooga.