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The champ is coming back to chomp.

Competitive eater Joey 鈥淛aws鈥� Chestnut announced Monday he will return to compete in this year’s Nathan鈥檚 Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest after skipping last year’s gastronomic battle for the coveted Mustard Belt.

鈥淭his event means the world to me,鈥� Chestnut, 41, said in a message posted on X. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life.鈥�

It will mark the 20th appearance for the Indiana eater at the Coney Island contest.

Last year, Major League Eating event organizer George Shea said Chestnut, who has won the 10-minute eat-a-thon 16 times, would not be participating due to a contract dispute. Chestnut had struck a deal with a competing brand, the plant-based meat company Impossible Foods.

In a phone interview Monday, the competitive eater made it clear he never appeared in any commercials for the company’s vegan hot dogs and that Nathan’s is the only hot dog company he has worked with. But Chestnut acknowledged he 鈥渟hould have made that more clear with Nathan鈥檚.”

鈥淭here was a little bit of communication that we could have improved on last year,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I, yeah, I think we figured it out. It took a little bit of finessing.鈥�

Chestnut is still working with Impossible Foods and said 鈥渃larifications鈥� have been made to his respective contracts.

Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating, said he did not want to rehash what happened last year because he found it 鈥渄ispiriting,鈥� but said he鈥檚 happy 鈥渆verything is resolved鈥� now.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the return of the greatest competitive eater of all time to the biggest competitive eating event of all time. So I don鈥檛 think it gets much bigger in any sport,鈥� Shea said. 鈥淚 mean, this guy is the greatest performer we鈥檝e ever seen in Coney Island and in competitive eating.鈥�

Chestnut said he heard from fans over the past year who wanted him to return to the Coney Island event, which is broadcast live on ESPN and even shown overseas.

Last year, he opted to compete against soldiers in Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, in a 5-minute hot dog eating contest. Back in New York, Patrick Bertoletti gobbled up 58 hot dogs to win his first men鈥檚 title while defending champion Miki Sudo won her 10th title in the women’s division, downing a record 51 links.

Chestnut holds the world record of eating 76 hot dogs.

鈥淥ver the last year, I ran into a lot of people who said that it wasn鈥檛 the same without me. And I told many people that I was going to work really hard to make sure I got back there,鈥� Chestnut said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 really happy that Nathan鈥檚 and Major League Eating, we were able all to figure it out.鈥�

Chestnut said he been prepping for the big event and has a couple practice sessions left before the July Fourth holiday.

鈥淢y body’s in tune right now,鈥� he said, explaining how he has to build tolerance for consuming so many hot dogs and 鈥済et all those muscles used to working together.鈥� He likened the process to boxer getting in practice rounds before a big fight.

Chestnut made it clear his business relationship with Impossible Foods does not mean he has become a vegan, an assumption he said some fans made last year. Chestnut said he was surprised by the 鈥渨eird blowback鈥� he received about it, explaining he eats a plant-based diet during his recovery from competitive eating events.

鈥淚 love meat. I鈥檓 going to continue to eat meat. But when I recover from a contest, I have to eat super clean in order to get my body to try to get back to normal,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 eat pounds of meat every day.鈥�