The king of eating has lost his crown -- at least when it comes to devouring shrimps -- 'cause Joey Chestnut was defeated at a famous seafood ingesting contest this weekend ... his first L at the event in EIGHT YEARS.
Believe it or not, the 39-year-old actually ended up in fourth place at the world-famous St. Elmo shrimp cocktail eating contest in Indianapolis on Saturday, losing to a dude who consumed 16 pounds and 6 ounces of the dish in 8 minutes.
Chestnut -- best known for his ability to pound hot dogs -- lost by a significant margin ... as he only put away 10 pounds and 9.6 ounces.
Geoffrey Esper -- the runner-up to Chestnut last year -- was the one who ultimately took home the title ... earning the first-place prize of $3,000, and, of course, the bragging rights of beating the Michael Jordan of eating contests.
It was a significantly down performance from Chestnut, who usually blows away the field at the event.
Just last year, he housed 17 pounds and 1.6 ounces of the shrimp cocktail -- and in 2018, he chomped down a record 18 pounds and 9.6 ounces of the stuff.
He did admit to a local station a day before the event that he was not feeling 100 percent, after battling a leg injury this year.
Get better soon, Joey ... July 4 is coming up in a hurry!