Still doesn't make ay sense unless Joey was looking to bail on IFOCE for the new big money show with Kobyashi because sure Nathan's got away with banning Kobyashi but I would think ESPN is the one really paying the bills here, after all, while the contest was held before ESPN blew it up decades ago, surely they would want Joey smashing records every year even though the contest isn't close. Competitive eating rarely is. It's a chalk "eaters" paradise.