Last year at the La Costeña Feel the Heat Jalapeño Eating Championship Challenge in Chicago, Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti ate 209 pickled jalapeños in 8 minutes.

Only problem is so did Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas.

Scott Olson/Getty ImagesHow many of these things could you eat?

The two competitive eaters faced off in a 1-minute overtime, where Thomas ate an additional 41 peppers to take the title away from the defending champ.

"Deep Dish" Bertoletti, who won the challenge in 2007 and 2008, remembers it all too well.

"It was one of the most humbling experiences ever. I had to watch Sonya cheer," he said. "It really pissed me off because I was in front of my home crowd and I let them down and I let myself down especially."

On Sunday, they will rematch at the Fourth Annual La Costeña Jalapeño Eating Championship which will take place in San Antonio this year. The contest is sanctioned by Major League Eating and there is $5,800 in cash prizes on the line. The star-studded field includes Erik "The Red" Denmark, Badlands Booker and an upstart to the competitive eating world, Nick "The Gorgin' Goblin" Bauer.

Still the favorites have to be Bertoletti and Thomas who, oddly enough, don't even like spicy food.

"With pickled jalapeños it seems like they're hot just for the sake of being hot," said Bertoletti, who's a professional chef. "I like flavor versus heat."

Thomas agreed. "I don't like spicy food, but I can handle it," she said. "I don't care what kind of competition it is, I just do it."

POSTSCRIPT: Bertoletti regained the crown at the La Costena Feel the Heat Jalapeño Eating Championship Challenge. It took some bonus time though. He tied with Thomas after regulation and one overtime period. In the end it all came down to a single pepper as Bertoletti finished off 275 jalapeños to edge out Thomas' 274. He has now won the contest three times.