Eric Scott "Butterbean" Esch (born August 3, 1968 in Bay City, Michigan) is a professional Super-Heavyweight boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Butterbean stands 5 ft 11 in (180cm) tall and weighs 416 pounds (183 kg).[1] He is the former IBA World Super-Heavyweight Champion and also held the WAA World Heavyweight title.[2] Esch's round body, bald head and vicious scowl, make him a menacing (yet highly entertaining) fight figure. His combined professional fight record currently stands at 90 wins with 63 knockouts, 17 losses and 5 draws. Butterbean currently resides in Jasper, Alabama where he owns a restaurant, Mr Bean
Fighting career
Boxing
Known as the "King of 4 rounders", Butterbean developed a cult following after he burst onto the Toughman Contest scene in the United States 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).
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 World Super-Heavyweight Championship on April 12, 1997 (which he never lost before relinquishing the title). Butterbean faced former WBC and IBF World Champion Larry Holmes in 2002, and while Holmes won a unanimous 10-round decision, Butterbean was credited with a controversial knockdown in the final round, the announcers had said it was a slip. Esch's most recent title shot came on October 15, 2005 where 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 World Heavyweight title).
Esch's professional boxing record is 77 wins with 58 knockouts, 7 losses and 4 draws. He won his last boxing match against Joe Siciliano, which occurred on March 9, 2007 at the Palladium.[4] That same night, Esch's son, Brandon "Babybean", lost in his professional debut against Matthew Eckerly.[5]
Mixed Martial Arts
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 lbs 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 lbs 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 and current #1 ranked Super-Heavyweight, 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 opponents weight, who also weighs 185 kg but is 8 inches (20 centimeters) taller.[6]
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).[7] 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.[8] 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) also won that night, along with his oldest son Brandon "Babybean" Esch (22) making his Pro mma debut also winning, via 22 second TKO. Bean Most recently lost to Nick Penner. http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2007/12/29/4744487.html
Butterbean's MMA record is currently 12 wins (4 knockouts and 8 submissions), 5 losses and 1 draw. He is training with American Top Team to improve his ground game.[9] Sherdog Power Ratings has Esch ranked as the #5 Super-Heavyweight in the world across all MMA organizations after his loss to Tedoradze.[10]
| 11 Wins - 7 Losses - 1 Draw (4 KO's) | |||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Method | Round, Time |
| 04/11/2008 | Loss | Pat Smith | YAMMA - Pit Fighting 1 | Submission (Strikes) | Round 1, 3:17 |
| 02/09/2008 | Loss | Matt Blaine | MMA Event in Muskegon | Submission (Injury) | Round 2, 1:05 |
| 12/28/2007 | Loss | Nick Penner | TFC-First Blood | Submission (Armlock) | Round 1, 2:47 |
| 12/01/2007 | Win | Tom Howard | The Final Chapter MMA- A&A Arena Jasper | Submission (Armlock) | Round 1, 4:47 |
| 10/13/2007 | Win | Pete Sischo | Combat Warfare X | Submission (Keylock) | Round 3, 2:35 |
| 07/14/2007 | Loss | Tengiz Tedoradze | Cage Rage 22 | TKO (Punches) | Round 1, 4:26 |
| 04/08/2007 | Win | Zuluzinho | PRIDE 34 - Kamikaze | Submission (Keylock) | Round 1, 2:35 |
| 02/10/2007 | Win | James Thompson | Cage Rage 20 - Born 2 Fight | KO | Round 1, 0:43 |
| 01/18/2007 | Win | Charles Hodges | Palace Fighting Championships - King of the Ring | KO (Right Punch) | Round 1, 0:45 |
| 12/09/2006 | Loss | Rob Broughton | Cage Rage 19 - Fearless | Submission (Tap To Strikes) | Round 2, 3:43 |
| 10/21/2006 | Win | Sean O'Haire | PRIDE 32 - Real Deal | TKO (Punches) | Round 1, 0:29 |
| 08/26/2006 | Loss | Ikuhisa Minowa | PRIDE Bushido 12 | Submission (Armbar) | Round 1, 4:25 |
| 07/15/2006 | Win | Rich Weeks | Fightfest 5 - Korea vs USA | Submission | Round 1, 1:29 |
| 05/20/2006 | Win | Matt Eckerle | Fightfest 4 | Submission | Round 1, 0:56 |
| 04/21/2006 | Win | Aaron Aguilera | Rumble on the Rock 9 | Submission (Choke) | Round 2, 1:15 |
| 04/14/2006 | Win | Leo Sylvest | Fightfest 2 - Global Domination | Submission (Choke) | Round 1, ?:?? |
| 01/20/2006 | Win | Wesley Correira | Rumble on the Rock 8 | TKO (Doctor Stoppage) | Round 2, 5:00 |
| 12/09/2005 | Win | Walley Keenboom | Fightfest 1 - Royce Gracie Fightfest | Submission | Round 1, 2:37 |
| 02/25/2005 | Draw | Michael Buchkovich | King of the Cage - Payback | Draw | Round 2, 5:00 |
| 12/31/2003 | Loss | Genki Sudo | K-1 Premium 2003 Dynamite | Submission (Heel Hook) | Round 2, 0:41 |
Kickboxing
Like several other popular boxers, 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, which came just two weeks after his 1st round knockout over Troy Roberts in a boxing match on June 13, 2003. Esch eventually evolved into a complete mixed martial artist and is no longer an active professional kickboxer, having his last K-1 standup appearance in July 2005.
| 2 Wins - 3 Losses - 0 Draw (1 KO's) | |||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Method | Round, Time |
| 07/29/2005 | Win | Marcus Royster | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii | Decision 0-3 | Round 3 |
| 06/26/2004 | Loss | Montanha Silva | K-1 Beast 2004 in Shizuoka | Decision 3-0 | Round 3 |
| 03/14/2004 | Loss | Hiromi Amada | K-1 Beast 2004 in Niigata | Decision 3-0 | Round 3 |
| 09/21/2003 | Loss | Mike Bernardo | K-1 Survival 2003 Japan GP Final | KO (Right High Kick) | Round 2, 1:01 |
| 06/29/2003 | Win | Yusuke Fujimoto | K-1 Beast II 2003 | KO | Round 1, 1:02 |
WWE appearances
Butterbean has appeared twice in WWE events competing in boxing matches. In 1997, at the In Your House 19: D-Generation X pay-per-view event, he defeated Marc Mero (former Golden Gloves champion) via disqualification in a worked match. Two years later, Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn in a legitimate shootfight at WrestleMania XV, defeating the Brawl For All champion with ease, knocking him out in 27 seconds.
Media appearances
Movies
Butterbean appeared in the film Jackass: The Movie, where he fought Johnny Knoxville in a department store, where Knoxville was floored by Esch and received several stitches in his head after the encounter (the camera catches the concussed Knoxville snoring). However, it is obvious in the movie that Butterbean gives Knoxville several rabbit punches as Knoxville was going down (he even says to Knoxville "C'mon, hit me at least once" and offers his cheek, which is punched before he retaliates). While being treated by on-scene medical personnel, a badly beaten (and slightly concussed) Johnny Knoxville asks "Is Butterbean okay?" On the DVD commentary, Knoxville stated that Esch is actually quite friendly outside of the ring, despite his fearsome ringside demeanor. Prior to the skit, Johnny asked Butterbean to go "all out on him." Butterbean stated, "I can't do that Johnny." When Knoxville repeated himself, Butterbean then replied, "You don't have to ask me twice." Knoxville then claimed he knew he was in trouble.
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.
Television
Butterbean appeared on Adult Swim's Squidbillies where he sang the national athem, very poorly, and ended up beating a fan for making fun of him. Butterbean also appeared on JackAss in which he repeatedly knocked out Star-Johnny Knoxville in public settings
Radio
Butterbean also fought Dominic Dieter of Rover's Morning Glory, in Cleveland, Ohio. See video at [11]
Video games
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.[12] He also appeared as a playable character in the EA Sports boxing video game Knockout Kings 2001.
