Did Joey Chestnut Defend His Bagel-Eating Championship Title In Las Vegas?

Ready, set, EAT!

The 2025 Siegel's Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship took place in Las Vegas Saturday morning and tons of spectators from near and far showed up for the eight-minute-long competition.

In attendance to reclaim his title from last year's competition was Joey Chestnut, who's often referred to as the greatest competitive eater of all time and has dominated the competitive eating scene for over a decade. Best known for his impressive performance at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest held each year in Coney Island, NY, he once again wowed Vegas spectators at the third annual Siegel’s Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship Saturday morning.

The eating competition had a group of 12 top-ranked eaters competing for the championship title and belt, as well as a share of the $10,000 prize money. 

The 3rd annual Siegel's Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship filled the parking lot of the popular Vegas bagel shop located just off of the world-famous Strip. It was the perfect day for an outdoor event as the sun shined down with spring-like temperatures.

Fans came from near and far to witness the fun competition, and received a free t-shirt from the bagel shop. Many were seen walking around asking the eaters for signatures on their new shirts and for photos, which they all seemed very happy to do.

The competition brought 12 of the world's top competitive eaters to Vegas to try to top the current record of 17.75 bagels and cream cheese, created by Geoffrey Esper, who was competing in the challenge once again. Last year, Joey Chestnut won the competition with 15 bagels and cream cheese.

Nick Wehry of Tampa, Florida was ready to go with winning in his sights.

"This is my third [bagel eating] one. I got second the first time and fourth last time," he told The Blast. "Hopefully first this time."

He explained that going into a competition such as this, jaw training is necessary. He also said it was tough to find a bagel in Tampa "that emulates the Siegel's bagel, which is really hard to do."

Wehry started competitive eating after being a competitive bodybuilder for 10 years. He said his appetite became a "running joke" so his friends encouraged him to enter a contest and the rest is history.

Once again, Chestnut takes the title!

He impressively ate 15 bagels with cream cheese to retain his first-place title again this year.

Before the competition began, Chestnut had some time to chat with The Blast saying that he plans to do "everything I can to win" again this year.

"I feel like if I find my rhythm and find my happy place, I'll be able to get them down," Chestnut said. "[Bagels] are definitely one of the harder ones on the jaws. It's not a capacity contest, some foods go down easy, this is work on the jaws. You'll see, a lot of people slow down after two minutes. They'll hit a wall. I just have to make sure I ignore all my feelings and just keep going."

Chestnut said he's been doing some jaw exercises to train for this competition, and he said he feels he has a "better technique than last year."

"Last year, I was frantic, eating with both hands," he said. " This year, I think I'll keep the water in one hand and use my left hand for eating."

And clearly his technique worked, because he's keeping his title as the champion of the Siegel's Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship for the second year in a row.

Ahead of this year’s competition, Major League Eating released a statement to get people “ready for a jaw-dropping showdown.” 

"Las Vegas is the ultimate stage where legends are made and world champions are crowned," said Sam Barclay, emcee at Major League Eating. "This year promises to be one for the history books as our elite eaters seek to claim the coveted Bagel-Eating Champion title. Get ready for a jaw-dropping showdown!"

Esper currently holds the world record for bagels eaten with 17.75. This is one of the few records Chestnut hasn’t been able to claim throughout his competitive eating career. 

Last year at Siegel’s Bagelmania in Vegas, Chestnut was named the champion after eating 15 bagels with cream cheese, edging out Esper, who ate 14.5 bagels. James Webb, the number four ranked, ate 13. 

This competition is tough!  Contestants had 8 minutes to eat as many bagels with cream cheese as they could. First place gets $5,000, second place gets $2,500, third place takes home $1,250, fourth place $750 and fifth place is awarded $500.

This year’s top ranked competitive eaters in attendance trying to win the 2025 title included Patrick Bertoletti, Geoffrey Esper, James Webb, Nick Wehry, Gideon Oji, and George Chiger.

Before the competition began, Australian resident James Webb had a chance to chat with The Blast and told us that this is his second time doing a bagel competition. He also said that last year, he competed in 17 different eating competitions.

"Last year I gave it a good whack! This is the first of the year so it will be a big reality check today," he said. "In Australia, we don't even have bagels. They don't exist."

When asked how he got started eating competitively, he said, "it started as a joke."

"It's not very big in Australia, I won a few contests in Australia, and then figured out in America, this is where the big boys swim, and I was like, you know what, I'll give it a go," he told The Blast exclusively. "I'm hooked."