San Jose's hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut preps to defend title

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose's Joey Chestnut is preparing to defend his title in the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

The 35-year old officially weighed in at 216 pounds Wednesday- but he's sure to weigh a lot more Thursday. Chestnut reportedly gained 24 pounds after last year's competition when he downed a record 74 hot dogs.

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Chestnut first entered the competition in 2006, finishing second. He's gone on to win 11 of the last 12 contests, the most in the history of the competition, which dates back to 1916.

You can watch the event Thursday morning on our sister network ESPN.