Eric Esch

At 58 years old, Eric Esch has this physical status:

Eric Scott Esch (born August 3, 1966), better known by his nickname "Butterbean," is an American retired professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and a professional wrestler who competed in the heavyweight division.

He has appeared in several television shows and been referred to by many others.

After a fruitful stint on the Toughman Contest circuit and went on to win the World Athletic Association (WAA) heavyweight and IBA super heavyweight championships, as well as running the distance against Larry Holmes, Esch became a professional boxer in 1994.

He competed regularly as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist, most notably in K-1 and the Pride Fighting Championships.

Butterbean's total fight record is 97–24–5 with 67 knockouts and ten submissions.

Early life

Esch, a German immigrant, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but his family and friends migrated to St. Johns, Michigan, only to move with his family at 11 years old, to Jasper, Alabama. He had a difficult childhood; his mother died when he was eight years old; and he was often teased at school for being overweight.

His coworkers encouraged him to enter a local Toughman Competition in Bay City, Michigan, while decking floors for manufactured homes at the Southern Energy Homes plant in Addison, Alabama. He won the tournament and began his career in combat sports.

Personal life

Esch is married to Libby Gaskin and has three children, Brandon and Caleb, as well as Grace. Both of his sons used to be mixed martial artists.

Mr. Bean's BBQ, a family-owned restaurant in Jasper, Alabama, opened in 2018. At the time, a former restaurant was closed due to Esch's traveling schedules.

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Career

Esch began his fighting career on the Toughman Contest stage in Texarkana, Arkansas, in the early 1990s and went on to become a five-time World Toughman Heavyweight Champion with a record of 55-0 knockouts. When he was forced to go on a diet (consisting mostly of chicken and butterbeans) in order to reach the Toughman 400 pound (181 kg) weight limit under the new age trainer Prozay Buell's "the better Buell."

He made his professional boxing debut on October 15, 1994, defeating Tim Daniels by a vote in Birmingham, Alabama, beating Tim Daniels by a margin. He soon formed a fanbase and became known as "King of the 4 Rounders" afterward. Esch told BoxingInsider that he was in a 2008 interview with him: he said: "I am a man of mystery."

Esch won a few games, most by knockout, before being suspended in two rounds by Mitchell Rose on December 15, 1995. He travelled around the country, winning 51 straight matches, including against Peter McNeeley. Although the majority of his opponents were technically limited club-level fighters early in his career, he did manage to win the IBA Super Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 12, 1997, defeating Ed White in the second round technical knockout at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. He made five strong title defenses before reclaiming his crown in 2000.

Larry Holmes, a five-year champion, came to an end in August 2001 after losing in a majority decision loss to heavyweight Billy Zumbrun in August. Although Holmes won a unanimous decision, Esch was credited with a tumultuous knockdown in the final round, the no punch had been struck, and it was only a slip; Holmes was only reeled against the ropes. This was one of only three fights in a 109 fight career that was scheduled for more than four rounds.

Butterbean entered kickboxing in 2003 after being recruited by K-1 and debuted with a first-round knockout of Yusuke Fujimoto at K-1 Beast II 2003 in Saitama, Japan. K-1 was then keen to face Ernesto Hoost, but he turned down a challenge from a friend who told him of the Dutchman's kickboxing prowess. On September 21, 2003, he defeated Mike Bernardo in a non-tournament match at the K-1 Survival 2003 Japan Grand Prix Final in Yokohama, Japan. In the first round, he was floored twice with poor kicks before being finished with a high kick in the second.

In his first mixed martial arts match, Esch defeated Genki Sudo in an openweight match at K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!! On December 31, 2003, a resident of Nagoya, Japan, was born. Butterbean was unable to profit despite having a 110 kg (240 lb) weight advantage over his opponents, but Sudo was unable to exchange strikes. Butterbean was stunned by a low, single-leg takedown at the end of round one and attempted a leglock, but the session was called off by the bell, which had been a deadlock up until that point. The fighters fell to the ground after Sudo attempted a dropkick on Esch early in round two, and the Japanese grappling ace took full advantage of the American boxer's poor grappling skills by securing a heel hook submission at the 0:41 mark.

Butterbean lost a unanimous decision to Hiromi Amada on March 14, 2004, when Amada peppered him with low kicks, while Esch did little more than taunt his opponent during the match. He was supposed to fight Bob Sapp shortly after, but Sapp's boss pushed them away after finding that Amada had needed hospitalization following his bout with Esch. Butterbean lost his third straight K-1 match in Shizuoka on June 26, 2004, losing by 205.82 cm (6 ft 11.00) by unanimous decision.

Esch, who was competing in the K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Honolulu, put an end to his losing streak when he scored a third round standing eight count, en route to a unanimous decision victory over 150 lb) brawler Marcus Royster in the quarter-finals. Despite winning, Butterbean sustained an injury to his left leg during the fight and was unable to continue, and so Royster was forced to return to the tournament in his place.

Butterbean appeared in two World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling tournaments, both in boxing matches. In a worked match, he defeated former Golden Gloves champion Marc Mero on December 7, 1997, defeating him at the D-Generation X level. Butterbean defeated WWF Brawl For All champion Bart Gunn in a legitimate shootfight at WrestleMania XV on March 28, 1999, knocking his opponent out in 34 seconds.

He returned to competitive wrestling on the independent circuit in 2009. On May 29, 2009, he defeated Trent Acid for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight Championship in Garfield, New Jersey. Butterbean defeated One Man Kru at OmegaCon in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 10, 2009, at a wrestling tournament for charity. Kevin Matthews was relegated to the position a year later on May 9, 2010. He has also competed for Juggalo Championship Wrestling. Butterbean teamed with Officer Adam Hadder in a tag-team match against One Man Kru and WWE Hall of Famer Brutus Beefcake in a charity wrestling match taped for an episode of Big Law: Deputy Butterbean, a reality show that aired on Investigation Discovery on April 1, 2011. He defeated Cliff Compton in Georgetown, Guyana, on March 31, 2012.

Esch's debut in MMA to Genki Sudo and regrouped, going 6–0-1 in appearances in King of the Cage, Gracie Fightfest, and Rumble on the Rock, which included a TKO stoppage of Wesley "Cabbage" Correira in a fight that was restricted to fifteen seconds per instance despite the circumstances. He returned to Japan on August 26, 2006, to face Ikuhisa Minowa, a shooter known for his ability to face much bigger opponents, to whom he lost via armbar submission at 4:25 of round one.

Butterbean was supposed to face Mark Hunt at the inaugural North American show, Pride 32 in Las Vegas on October 21, 2006, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to allow the match to be played because Hunt's victories over Wanderlei Silva and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovi gave him an unfair mat advantage. Pride had stated that "visa issues" were preventing Hunt from participating in the tournament, but it was later revealed that Hunt would not participate due to the NSAC's ruling. Sean O'Haire stepped in as Hunt's replacement, and Esch TKO'd him in less than 30 seconds.

Pride departing to compete in Cage Rage, Esch stunned Rob Broughton in the second round of their match at Cage Rage 19 in London, England, on December 9, 2006. At Cage Rage 20, he recovered with a forty-three second knockout of James Thompson.

Butterbean returned to Pride in Saitama on April 8, 2007, where he defeated Zuluzinho in a competition in which both men weighed in at 184.6 kg (407 lb) (although the Brazilian was 20 cm (8 in) taller). Both fighters were out swinging before Zuluzinho scored a takedown. Esch retalled himself, firing several hammer shots before delivering Zuluzinho with a key lock at 2:35 of the first round.

Butterbean's next fight was against reigning Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion Tengiz Tedoradze in a non-title match at Cage Rage 25, losing via TKO. The inaugural match between Esch and Ruben Villareal was supposed to take place, but the competition was postponed due to medical problems (Esch vs. Villareal was the only viable main event). He was supposed to face Jimmy Ambriz in the main event of Xcess Combat's debut card, but he was unable to attend citing scheduling conflicts.

On August 9, 2008, Esch returned to K-1 for a short time, rematching Wesley Correira in the quarterfinals and losing by a second round high kick KO.

On September 14, 2008, Esch was defeated by a first-round KO for the EBF title against Mark Potter at the Syndicate Nightclub in Blackpool, England. This contest has not been recorded on boxrec.com or another website of the same type as Potter was not allowed at the time.

Butterbean made his debut as a professional wrestler/film maker/actor in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 28, 2009, winning against rapper/professional wrestler/film maker/actor Anthony "One Man Kru" Sanners via pinfall after smashing him with a brutal 400 lb. The elbow has been pulled down by the time. After defeating Trent Acid, Butterbean won the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight Championship on May 29, 2009. Butterbean lost in a first-round tko (submission) to Jeff Kugel in Mount Clemens, Michigan, in a MMA match for Xtreme Cagefighting Championship 46: A devastating :40 seconds tko (submission) to the Ballroom 9, a devastating :40 second humiliation.

In White Plains, New York, Butterbean lost the belt to Kevin Matthews on May 8, 2010.

Esch KO'd Moon-Bi Lam forty-six seconds into round one in his last kickboxing match at Moosin II in Seoul, South Korea, on July 29, 2009.

Esch lost a four-round split to Harry Funmaker, who had earlier defeated on two occasions on October 3, 2009. He resigned after the brawl, and that was the end of it. However, he seemed to have changed his mind and returned to action shortly.

Esch was defeated by Mariusz Pudzianowski by submission on September 18, 2010 in ód, Poland, by a strike at KSW XIV. Pudzianowski fired and shot Esch down, prompting him to fire several punches from both directions in a ground-and-pound assault. Esch was unable to get to his feet in the first round at 1:15 p.m.

On October 12, 2010, Esch next took on up-and-coming super heavyweight Deon West at the LFC 43: Wild ThangMMA internet pay-per-view. Deon did not make it to the third round after a tense match. At 5:00 of round two, Butterbean humbled Deon West by TKO.

Butterbean returned to pro wrestling on April 1, 2011 and teamed with his Walker County Sheriff Deputy Adam Hadder to face Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and One Man Kru in a tag-team match at the Battle Against Drugs charity benefit, which was taped for Butterbean's reality show Big Law. He appeared at Wrestlerama in Georgetown, Guyana, where he told the audience that Guyana is his second home and was booed off because he mispronounced Guyana.

Butterbean won the championships at Elite 1 MMA: High Voltage in Moncton, Canada, on May 7, 2011. In the second round, he knocked out Storey 24 seconds. Butterbean is often compared to British warrior "Big" Ben Copley, who has a similar height and size. The two men had been supposed to meet in a 6 round match, with the British man eventually stepping down. Butterbean then resigned from action after this series.

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