Hooters World Wing Eating Championship Finals Field Set!

International tastemakers and influencers will shift their attention from London to Clearwater as the world's top eaters gather in Florida—along with Miss Hooters International 2013, Marissa Raisor—for a stand-out date on the MLE calendar.

The 2013 Hooters World Wing Eating Championship will take place at the spiritual home of international wing-eating—at the Original Hooters, at 2800 Gulf to Bay Blvd, Clearwater, FL—this Thursday, July 25th, at 7pm.

Here are the 16 hotly anticipated contestants, along with their 2013 Hooters World Wing Eating Championship Qualifying Wing Totals. (AKA, HWWECQWT.) A $12,500 prize purse is on the line, but more importantly the winner will earn the right to call herself or himself the Hooters World Wing Eating Champion, if only for the next 12 months.

They are:

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, 144 (Returning champion; 2012 Finals total) Miki Sudo, 192 Adrian "The Rabbit" Morgan, 176 Michelle "Cardboard Shell" Lesco, 152 Marcos "The Monster" Owens, 144 Sonya "the Black Widow" Thomas, 140 Neil "Snack Galafaniakis" Sebree, 128 "The Lovely" Juliet Lee, 128 Jon "Porta" Bello, 125 "Big" Brian Subich, 120 Erik "The Red" Denmark, 115 Alex "the Moose" Perez, 112 Eric "Badlands" Booker, 104 Bam Martinez, 96 Sean "Flash" Gordon, 94 Damien "The" Boykin, 88

The stakes are higher than ever before, as reigning wing-eating champ Joey Chestnut will attempt to defend his title against two female competitive eating sensations—Miki Sudo and Michelle Lesco—both of whom have bested Chestnut in sanctioned competition this year.

Hooters will crown the Hooters Worldwide Wing-Eating Champion as part of a weekend celebration in advance of National Chicken Wing Day on Monday, July 29. In honor of the holiday, Hooters locations across the country will offer an all-you-can-eat chicken wing deal to challenge wing-eating enthusiasts across the country to collectively consume one million chicken wings in one day.

This contest will take place at The Original Hooters, 2800 Gulf to Bay Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33759, at 7pm.

Attendance is free and open to the public.

CLICK HERE for more information on The Original Hooters location.