"The winner has arrived."

Those were the fighting words of a Swansea man who took home first place in a local hot dog contest on Saturday.

Over the weekend, Lexi's Road Dogs in Westport hosted its very first hot dog eating competition. The goal was to eat as many hot dogs as possible in a half-hour. Four contenders came forward, but only one victor was crowned.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, from the town of Swansea, Massachusetts, 38-year-old Nick Moniz, who scarfed down a total of nine hot dogs in 30 minutes. The first annual gagger champion has been crowned. Say what you want, this was no easy feat.

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"I didn't eat breakfast, and that was pretty much my strategy going into it," Moniz said. "I felt awful for the rest of the day. The buns were bigger than most. It wasn't easy getting down the nine hot dogs. I was allowed one substitution on the hot dogs, so went with sauce and mustard, and had them put ketchup instead of onions. I've never been there before and wanted to go to show some support. Lexi was awesome. We enjoyed talking to her. She made the whole experience great."

Moniz tells Fun 107 that this was the most hot dogs he has ever eaten. He went in with a lot of confidence and his girlfriend Jennifer Whittaker cheering him on.

"I am oh-so-proud," Whittaker laughed. "He went in there and told them the champ had arrived and was surprisingly right. He shocked us all. His brother Chris is super-proud, who was the one who told him about the competition in the first place."

Second place went to Paul 'Glizzy Gladiator' Bulens of Fall River with an impressive eight-and-a-half hot dogs, just shy of Moniz's record.

Courtesy Lexi's Road Dogs
Courtesy Lexi's Road Dogs
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Puke buckets were provided to each entrant in the event they couldn't hold down their food.

"No one threw up so that's good," owner Lexi Williams said. "It was a pretty good event and I want to thank everyone who came out and showed up. They might have done it for the prize, but in reality, they did it to support which feels so good."

Williams opened her hot dog joint earlier this summer at the intersection of State and Sanford roads in Westport.

In life, there are people whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs and that was the case for one of the contestants who went in overconfident, claiming he could eat a box (50-count) of hot dogs with no problem.

"Surprisingly, he was only able to eat four and claimed his eyes were bulging trying to fit more," Williams said.

Moniz was also $50 for first place but generously donated it back to Williams. His photo will be taken and hung on the wall in the Lexi's Road Dogs Hall of Fame for all to admire.

As far as next year is concerned, the reigning champ claims to probably won't compete next year and is just glad he got to check it off his bucket list.

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