Joey Chestnut Speaks On Hot Dog Contest Ban, 'Hopeful' He'll Compete On 4th

Joey Chestnut's at the center of the biggest competitive eating controversy in over a decade, and now "Jaws" is speaking on camera for the first time since Major League Eating banned him from the Nathan's Hotdog eating contest.

But, there might still be a chance to compete!

The 16-time Mustard Belt Champion was at the Indiana Fever vs. Atlanta Dream game Thursday night -- a contest the Fever won 91-84 -- when he was asked about MLE's decision while talking to On3 Sports.

While Chestnut says he doesn't have any regrets, he described the situation as "unfortunate" ... explaining he was bummed contract negotiations with Impossible Foods became public.

"I'm very hopeful things can be worked out. I'll be ready if we can get anything worked out, I'll be hungry," Chestnut said ... clearly still wanting to eat on Coney Island on the 4th.

Even though the yearly Fourth of July tradition likely won't feature Chestnut this year (barring a huge turn of events) ... it doesn't mean we won't see Jaws eating sometime soon.

In fact, Joey will be taking on his longtime rival, Takeru Kobayashi, in a head-to-head hotdog eating competition on Labor Day which will air on the world's largest streaming platform.

“I’m really excited about the Netflix contest,” JC said. “Me and Kobayashi, he’s been my biggest rival forever. I’m just really excited to be able to eat against him again."

It's unclear if the G.O.A.T of professional eating met up with WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark while at the game ... or if he had any glizzys at the game.