| Eric "Butterbean" Esch | |
|---|---|
Eric Esch in 2006 |
|
| Born | Eric Scott Esch August 3, 1966 [1] Bay City, Michigan, United States |
| Other names | Butterbean |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 feet 111⁄2 inches (1.82 m) |
| Weight | 420 lb (190.5 kg; 30.0 st) |
| Reach | 78 in (198 cm) |
| Style | Boxing |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Fighting out of | Jasper, Alabama |
| Team | American Top Team Team Butterbean |
| Trainer | Murray Sutherland |
| Years active | 2003 – present (MMA) |
| Professional boxing record | |
| Total | 89 |
| Wins | 77 |
| By knockout | 58 |
| Losses | 8 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Draws | 4 |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 7 |
| Wins | 3 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Losses | 4 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 25 |
| Wins | 14 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 8 |
| Losses | 10 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| By submission | 9 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Boxing record from Boxrec | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Eric Scott Esch (born August 3, 1966) is an American heavyweight boxer, kick-boxer, professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist commonly referred to as Butterbean.[2]
He is the former IBA Super-Heavyweight Champion and also held the WAA Heavyweight title.[3] His combined professional fight record currently stands at 97 wins with 67 knockouts, 20 losses and 5 draws. Butterbean currently resides in Jasper, Alabama where he owns a restaurant, Mr Bean BBQ.[4]
Contents |
Known as the "King of the 4 rounders", Butterbean developed a cult following after he burst onto the Toughman Contest scene in Texarkana, AR before entering the world of professional boxing in 1994. He was a five time World Toughman Heavyweight Champion with a record of 56-5 with 36 knockouts (not counted towards pro career). It has been said that he got his nickname when he had to go on a diet (consisting mostly of chicken and butterbeans) to meet the Toughman 400-pound weight limit.[5]
Butterbean is a very popular fighter, having more televised matches than most professionals. He stated in an interview with BoxingInsider: "It took off pretty quick (his popularity), my second pro fight was on national TV—it don’t happen like that, normally you get 15, 20 fights and then you get a TV fight unless you’re very fortunate. Tyson, his second pro fight wasn’t on TV. He probably had five or six, seven fights before he got on TV. Me, my second pro fight was televised, it was on a Jed Hearns undercard. Then a couple more fights and I’m on TV again, and every fight since then was televised. It just don’t happen like that. I’ve probably had more televised fights than any world champion out there.".[6]
While a majority of his opponents were technically limited club-level fighters early in his career, he did move up the ranks to win the IBA Super-Heavyweight Championship on April 12, 1997 (which he never lost before relinquishing the title). Butterbean faced former WBC and IBF World Champion 52 year old Larry Holmes in 2002, and while Holmes won a unanimous 10-round decision, Butterbean was credited with a controversial knockdown in the final round. Holmes fought a fight on points, playing on his reach advantage, fearful of Butterbean’s knockout punch. Butterbean was quoted as saying: “How am I a successful boxer, I'm over 300 lbs and balding? ”.[6] This was one of only three fights in a 109 fight career that was scheduled for more than four rounds. Esch's most recent title shot came on October 15, 2005 when he lost a split decision against George Linberger for the NABC Super-Heavyweight title (whom Esch had beaten in March 2000 in his final defense of the IBA title, taking Linberger's WAA Heavyweight title).
On March 9, 2007, Esch defeated Joe Siciliano at the Palladium.[7] That same night, Esch's son, Brandon "Babybean", lost in his professional debut against Matthew Eckerly.[8]
Esch lost via 1st round KO for the EBF title against Mark Potter at the Syndicte Nightclub in Blackpool, England on the 14th September 2008. This fight has not been recorded on boxrec.com or any other site of the same nature, as Potter was not licensed at the time.
On October 3, 2009 Esch lost a four round split decision to Harry Funmaker whom he earlier beat on two occasions. After the bout he announced his retirement.[9] [10] [11]
Butterbean ventured into the sport of kickboxing in 2003. His first bout was a 1st round knockout of two-time K-1 World Champion Yusuke Fujimoto at K-1 Beast. Esch lost a controversial decision to Amada, as quoted “Amada, he’s tough. He’s more of a boxer than a kicker, I beat him pretty good, but they gave the decision to him. It was his hometown, his home country. After the fight he ended up in the hospital and I was fine”. Esch was scheduled to take on Bob Sapp one week later, but Sapp’s management pulled out of the fight after watching the Esch – Amada fight. Butterbean said “They (Sapp’s management) found out that Amada went to the hospital and canceled the next week. They looked at the damage I installed on Amada”.[6] Most recently he beat Bo Lam Moon in the first round by KO. His record currently stands at 3 wins 4 losses.
Butterbean holds the current Elite 1 MMA Super Heavyweight Title as of May 2011.
Butterbean's previous fighting experiences led him to venture into mixed martial arts. At K-1 Premium 2003 on December 31, 2003, Butterbean lost his first MMA bout to 155-pound Japanese fighter Genki Sudo via tap out to a heel hook. Esch regrouped, going 6-0-1 in appearances in King of the Cage, Gracie Fightfest, and Rumble on the Rock including a TKO stoppage of Cabbage Correira. Esch returned to Japan with the PRIDE Fighting Championships on August 26, 2006 to compete at Bushido 12 against Ikuhisa Minowa, a 185-pound fighter, to whom he lost via armbar at 4:25 of round one. Less than two months later, Butterbean was scheduled to fight K-1 legend Mark Hunt at Pride FC's first North American show on October 21, 2006. Due to an injury Hunt sustained in training, Esch was matched up against Irish-American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist Sean O'Haire, whom he defeated via knockout at 30 seconds in the first round.
Besides his two submission losses to much smaller opponents (Genki Sudo and Ikuhisa Minowa), Butterbean's only other loss came to then Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion Rob Broughton. On February 10, Butterbean rebounded by knocking out James Thompson 43 seconds into the first round at Cage Rage 20. Butterbean then defeated Zuluzinho via submission at PRIDE 34 on April 8, 2007. Although he's been overweight throughout his career, at the time of the fight, Esch weighed an astonishing 407 pounds (185 kg) to match his opponent's weight, who also weighs 185 kg but is 8 inches (20 centimeters) taller.
Butterbean's next fight was on July 14 against current Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion Tengiz Tedoradze at Cage Rage 22, losing via TKO. Global Fighting Championships had scheduled a main event bout between Esch and Ruben Villareal for their inaugural event, but the event was canceled when half the scheduled matchups could not take place due to medical issues (Esch vs Villareal was the only viable main event).[12] He was then scheduled to fight Jimmy Ambriz as the main event of Xcess Fighting's debut card, but was a no show for the weigh-in citing scheduling conflicts.[13] Esch most recently defeated Tom Howard by submission around 4:47 in the first round in an exhibition in his hometown of Jasper, Alabama. His youngest son Caleb (19) lost that night, whilst his oldest son Brandon "Babybean" Esch (22) making his Pro MMA debut won, via 22 second TKO.[14]
Esch has said he has fought his final US fight, and will be fully retired soon, after other international obligations are completed.[15]
Butterbean was due to take on Tank Abbott at the Alababma Pride event on 29 Sept 2009, but Abbott pulled out at last minute.
On September 18, 2010, Esch was defeated by Mariusz Pudzianowski by submission due to strikes at KSW XIV.[16] After several exchanges of strikes on the feet, Pudzianowski attacked and took Esch down, proceeding to throw numerous punches from side control in a ground-and-pound attack. Esch, unable to get to his feet, submitted at just 1:15 into the first round.
Esch was next scheduled to take on up and coming super heavyweight Deon West at the “LFC 43: Wild Thang” MMA internet pay-per-view on 12/10/2010. The main event of LFC 43: After a heated contest, Deon did not rise for the third round. Butterbean humbled Deon West via TKO at 5:00 of Round 2.
Elite 1 MMA announced that former boxer turned Mixed Martial Artist Eric “Butterbean” Esch will take his 16-8 MMA record to Moncton, New Brunswick on May 7 to face Dean Storey (0-0 MMA; 8-16-2 Boxing) for the Elite 1 MMA Super Heavyweight Title.[17]
Butterbean (Eric Esch) defeated Dean Storey at Elite 1 MMA: High Voltage on May 7, 2011 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada to claim the promotions super heavyweight title. With the win, Butterbean runs his MMA record to 17-8-1, and is now on a two fight win streak. He knocked out Storey 24 seconds into the 2nd round.[18] Esch credits his recent lack of weight as contributing to his recent two outstanding wins. “A lot of people don't realize that I lost a lot of weight recently," he said. "A year ago, I was over 500 pounds. It's not like I'm a big eater. I never have been a big eater. Everybody thought I was because of my size. I found out a year ago my thyroid was messed up. My body wasn't working right so I couldn't lose weight. I'm training, watching my diet and my thyroid is no longer a problem since I started taking medication. I'm losing six to eight pounds per week now. I've lost almost one foot and a half around me in the past year. The lowest I've been since age 12 was 300 pounds. My goal is to get back down to 300 pounds." [19] Esch, 44, figures he has one year left in the fight game. "I still have fun," he said. "I don't fight anywhere near as much as I used to. I'm down to four or five fights per year now compared to 12-15 in the past. I've accomplished pretty much everything I want in the fight game." Esch likes to consider himself different than most fighters. "After the fight, I'll shake hands with the fans and sign autographs," he said. "A lot of fighters think as soon as the fight is over they can go home and realistically that's all they have to do. I enjoy being nice to the fans. My reward is when people tell me they enjoyed watching me fight. The fans are what make it worthwhile. If it wasn't for the fans, I would be done." [19]
On October 7, 2011, Butterbean will take on the popular and undefeated Montreal boxer Eric Barrak, who has decided to try his hand at MMA. Barrak just finished up a two fight contract with Montreal’s SP Promotion and is looking to move up in the heavyweight boxing ranks, but is well suited for the MMA fight game with his raw power and quick reflexes. He has finished four of his five professional fights by way of 1st round stoppage. The show also features Patrick Cote, Crafton Wallace, Steve Bosse, and Houston Alexander.[20]
Butterbean made his independent wrestling debut at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, AL on March 28, 2009 at the ImagiCon horror movie, sci-fi movie, and comic book convention and was victorious against rapper/professional wrestler/film maker/actor Anthony "One Man Kru" Sanners via pinfall after smashing him with a vicious 400 lb. elbow drop.
Butterbean won the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight Championship on May 29, 2009 after defeating Trent Acid. Butterbean lost the belt to Kevin Matthews on May 8, 2010 in White Plains, NY.
Butterbean has appeared twice in WWF events competing in boxing matches. In 1997, at the D-Generation X: In Your House pay-per-view event, he defeated Marc Mero[21] (former Golden Gloves champion) via disqualification in a worked match. Two years later, Butterbean defeated "Toughman" Bart Gunn[21] in a legitimate shootfight at WrestleMania XV, defeating the Brawl For All champion with ease, knocking him out in 27 seconds.[22]
On April 1, 2011, Butterbean teamed with his Walker County Sheriff Deputy partner Adam Hadder to take on 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.
Esch is a reserve deputy sheriff in his hometown of Jasper, Alabama. He's the star in a new reality television documentary called Big Law Deputy Butterbean which will debut on the Investigation Discovery channel in August 2011. "They came to me wanting to do a reality documentary on my restaurant and I was in the process of closing my restaurant down," he said. "I said 'If you want something interesting and fun to watch, follow us on our drug busts in the sheriff's department.' They agreed people would be interested in this."They started following us, filming it and documenting us actually making the busts. You arrest somebody and say 'Look, if you don't want to go to jail you've got to help us bust a bigger guy.' We make a bigger bust from that. The whole goal is to get people on file and lessen the number of criminals on the streets." [19]
Season 1 of Big Law Deputy Butterbean has already been filmed."I think this show is going to prove that people really care about the communities they lived in," said Esch. "There's going to be more people calling (the police station) saying 'Hey, this guy is doing this crime. You should look into it.' We want people to step forward and help the police clean up our communities." [19][23]
The show has been cancelled as of 10/17/2011 due to low ratings. There will be no season 2.
Butterbean appeared in the film Jackass: The Movie, where he fought Johnny Knoxville in a department store. Knoxville was floored by Esch and received several stitches in his head after the encounter (the camera catches Knoxville snoring). Knoxville stated that Esch is actually quite friendly outside of the ring, despite his fearsome ringside demeanor.
Butterbean also appeared in the film Chairman of the Board as the Museum Security Guard with the "chia hair", a fact that is pointed out on the DVD commentary by the movie's star Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson.
Butterbean appeared on Adult Swim's Squidbillies where he sang the national anthem, and ended up beating up a fan for not taking off his hat.
Butterbean also appeared on CMT's Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling television show, on Team Beefcake.
Butterbean was referenced on NBC's "Parenthood". The episode aired on October 5, 2010 and was titled "Date Night."
On July 16, 2005, Butterbean fought Dominic Dieter of Rover's Morning Glory, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio in a bout billed as "War on the Shore". [24]
Butterbean was featured as the cover character as well as the final boss character in the EA Sports title Toughman Contest released in July 1995 for the Sega Genesis and Sega 32X.[25] He also appeared as a playable character in all of the EA Sports boxing video games in the Knockout Kings series.
In the 2007 PC game The Witcher, the main character, Geralt of Rivia, can challenge a tavern fistfighter by the name of Butter Bean during the second chapter of the game. Butter Bean has a body structure similar to that of Eric Esch. The game also contains references to other fighters such as Andrew Golota.
Butterbean is a playable fighter in play now, legacy mode and online modes in EA's fifth installment of the Fight Night series Fight Night Champion.
Eric was born in Bay City, Michigan. He is married and has three children: sons Brandon and Caleb, and daughter, Grace.[26]
Boxing
MMA
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 25 matches | 14 wins | 10 losses |
| By knockout | 6 | 1 |
| By submission | 8 | 9 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 17-10-1 | Sandy Bowman | Submission (punches) | Prestige Fighting Championship 3 | October 21, 2011 | 1 | 0:54 | Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada | |
| Loss | 17-9-1 | Eric Barrak | Submission (guillotine choke) | Instinct MMA | October 7, 2011 | 3 | 2:56 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Win | 17-8-1 | Dean Storey | TKO (punches) | Elite-1 MMA: Moncton | May 7, 2011 | 2 | 0:20 | Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Won Elite-1 MMA Super Heavyweight Title |
| Win | 16-8-1 | Deon West | TKO | LFC 43: Wild Thang | December 10, 2010 | 2 | 5:00 | ||
| Loss | 15-8-1 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Submission (punches) | KSW 14 | September 18, 2010 | 1 | 1:15 | ||
| Loss | 15-7-1 | Jeff Kugel | Submission (punches) | XCC - Beatdown at the Ballroom 9 | March 6, 2010 | 1 | 0:40 | ||
| Win | 15-6-1 | Chris Cruit | Submission (rear naked choke) | Moosin: God of Martial Arts | December 11, 2009 | 1 | 1:38 | ||
| Win | 14-6-1 | Tom Howard | Submission (neck crank) | Extreme Cage Fighting | September 9, 2009 | 1 | 1:40 | ||
| Win | 13-6-1 | Jefferson Hook | TKO (punches) | LDIL - Lockdown in Lowell | June 26, 2009 | 1 | ?:?? | ||
| Loss | 12-6-1 | Pat Smith | Submission (punches) | YAMMA Pit Fighting | April 11, 2008 | 1 | 3:17 | ||
| Loss | 12-5-1 | Nick Penner | Submission (punches) | TFC: First Blood | December 28, 2007 | 1 | 2:28 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 12-4-1 | Tom Howard | Submission (armlock) | The Final Chapter MMA- A&A Arena Jasper | December 1, 2007 | 1 | 4:47 | ||
| Win | 11-4-1 | Pete Sischo | Submission (keylock) | Combat Warfare X | October 13, 2007 | 3 | 2:35 | ||
| Loss | 10-4-1 | Tengiz Tedoradze | TKO (punches) | Cage Rage 22 | July 14, 2007 | 1 | 4:26 | ||
| Win | 10-3-1 | Zuluzinho | Submission (keylock) | PRIDE 34 | April 8, 2007 | 1 | 2:35 | ||
| Win | 9-3-1 | James Thompson | KO (punches) | Cage Rage 20 | February 10, 2007 | 1 | 0:43 | ||
| Win | 8-3-1 | Charles Hodges | KO (punch) | PFC 1 - King of the Ring | January 18, 2007 | 1 | 0:45 | ||
| Loss | 7-3-1 | Rob Broughton | Submission (punches) | Cage Rage 19 | December 9, 2006 | 2 | 3:43 | ||
| Win | 7-2-1 | Sean O'Haire | TKO (punches) | PRIDE 32 | October 21, 2006 | 1 | 0:29 | ||
| Loss | 6-2-1 | Ikuhisa Minowa | Submission (armbar) | PRIDE Bushido 12 | August 26, 2006 | 1 | 4:25 | ||
| Win | 6-1-1 | Rich Weeks | Submission (choke) | Fightfest 5 - Korea vs USA | July 15, 2006 | 1 | 1:29 | ||
| Win | 5-1-1 | Matt Eckerle | Submission (punches) | Fightfest 4 | May 20, 2006 | 1 | 0:56 | ||
| Win | 4-1-1 | Aaron Aguilera | Submission (rear-naked choke) | ROTR 9 - Rumble on the Rock 9 | April 21, 2006 | 2 | 1:15 | ||
| Win | 3-1-1 | Leo Sylvest | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Fightfest 2: Global Domination | April 14, 2006 | 1 | 0:35 | ||
| Win | 2-1-1 | Wesley Correira | TKO (doctor stoppage) | ROTR 8 - Rumble on the Rock 8 | January 20, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 1-1-1 | Walley Keenboom | Submission | Fightfest 1: Royce Gracie Fightfest | December 9, 2005 | 1 | 2:37 | ||
| Draw | 0-1-1 | Michael Buchkovich | Draw | King of the Cage48: Payback | February 25, 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | ||
| Loss | 0-1 | Genki Sudo | Submission (heel hook) | K-1 Premium Dynamite!! | December 31, 2003 | 2 | 0:41 |
| 3 Wins - 4 Losses - 0 Draw (2 KO's) | ||||||
| Date | Result | Record | Opponent | Event | Method | Round, Time |
| 07/29/2009 | Win | 3-4 | Bo Lam Moon | Moosin II | KO (Right punch) | Round 1 |
| 08/09/2008 | Loss | 2-4 | Wesley Correira | K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Hawaii | KO (Left high kick) | Round 2 |
| 07/29/2005 | Win | 2-3 | Marcus Royster | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii | Decision 3-0 | Round 3 |
| 06/26/2004 | Loss | 1-3 | Montanha Silva | K-1 Beast 2004 in Shizuoka | Decision 0-3 | Round 3 |
| 03/14/2004 | Loss | 1-2 | Hiromi Amada | K-1 Beast 2004 in Niigata | Decision 0-3 | Round 3 |
| 09/21/2003 | Loss | 1-1 | Mike Bernardo | K-1 Survival 2003 Japan Grand Prix Final | KO (Right High Kick) | Round 2, 1:01 |
| 06/29/2003 | Win | 1-0 | Yusuke Fujimoto | K-1 Beast II 2003 | KO | Round 1, 1:02 |
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.punchbagblog.com/2011/09/butterbean-is-making-comeback.html.| Preceded by Ed White |
IBA Super Heavyweight Champion 1997-04-12 – 2000 (Vacated) |
Succeeded by ? filled vacancy |