ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Bills don't have a game on Sunday, Sept. 3, but the field at Highmark Stadium will still feature a heated and highly anticipated matchup.
Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo will return to Western New York to compete in the U.S. National Buffalo Wing Eating Championship. Sudo ate 246 wings in 12 minutes to beat Chestnut in 2021, and last year she ate 233 wings to repeat as champion.
Chestnut is the No. 1-ranked competitive eater in the world right now.
The wing-eating contest starts at 5 p.m. on Sept. 3. It's part of the National Buffalo Wing Festival, which will be held in Orchard Park that weekend.
Another contest at the two-day event is the Buffet Bowl, which will take place at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Sept. 2. The first-to-finish event features a 5-pound bowl of Buffalo foods, and last year Geoffrey Esper, the No. 2-ranked eater in the world, won it with a time of 3 minutes, 29 seconds.
Buffalo's own Ronnie Hartman will be among the 12 competitors in the wing-eating contest.
Hartman is an Army veteran, professional wrestler, and a competitive eater who 2 On Your Side talked with back in 2019. He's been a regular on the Major League Eating tour for some time now.
“The National Buffalo Wing Festival has been a Labor Day tradition for more than two decades,” festival founder Drew Cerza said in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating local Buffalo cuisine at the 22nd annual event, culminating with an intense wing-eating showdown featuring our nation’s top-ranked eaters.”