OH IT'S ON!!!

Continuing my tangential coverage of non-major sports, let's turn our heads and jaws to the IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating), and it's highly-prized icon, Takeru Kobayashi.

TURNS OUT he is going to competing at Nathan's famous hotdog eating contest on July 4th. For those who didn't know, dude was recently on the DL with jaw arthritis and debilitating growth of wisdom teeth, saying he could only open his mouth a few inches before wincing in pain.

"A muscle is tight around the jaw because of the injury, and I have some medicines and creams to do various experiments to try to loosen up the muscle, so that's the thing I'm trying to do right now," Mr. Kobayashi said. He wears a mouthpiece when he's not eating to realign the jaw, he said.

Doctors told him he is facing a long recovery process, but he's putting his energy into this week's contest, he said.

Why?? Fans of Kobayashi rooted himon through his rehab, critics claimed competitive sham (to which Koba replied, "That's not even funny. I don't even have time to think about that." lol nice), and viewers cried out travesty, like "basketball-with-kobe". So with some intense therapy Kobayashi is now convinced he'll compete. Especially to try and reclaim his title against Californian scarfer, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and his earth shattering 59 hotdog record just over a month ago, topping Kobayashi's all-time record of 54.

Everyone likes international brawls, and the audience has got to be split 50/50 on this one. Unlike our pic of Stryker and Scorpion facing off above in Ultimate Mortal Kombat (and btw no one liked Stryker, did they?--dude was fat, lame, and used a gatling gun, in a fighting game, whereas next to Sub-Zero Scorpion was the big fan fave), Jaws and Kobayashi are down to draw even crowds of both Koba fans and patriotic souls looking to take the crown for what Americans truly do best, more than the entire world--eat ourselves into fat oblivion. Go Jaws!!! REPRESENT!!!