Eric David Scott Esch (born August 3, 1966), better known by his nickname "Butterbean", is an American television personality and retired professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler. A competitor in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions, he is an overall four-time world champion across the four sports. Esch became a professional boxer in 1994 after a successful stint on the Toughman Contest scene and went on to capture the World Athletic Association (WAA) heavyweight and IBA super heavyweight championships. From 2003, he regularly fought as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist, notably in K-1 and the Pride Fighting Championships. Esch's combined fight record is 97–24–5 with 65 knockouts and 9 submissions.
Early life Esch was born in Atlanta, Georgia. At age four, he and his family moved to St. Johns, Michigan. When Esch was 11, he moved with his family once more; this time, they moved to Jasper, Alabama. Esch had a difficult childhood; his mother died when he was eight, and he was frequently bullied at school for being overweight.
While decking floors for manufactured homes at the Southern Energy Homes plant in Addison, Alabama, his colleagues dared him to enter a local Toughman Contest, with training in Bay City, Michigan. Esch won the tournament and began his career in combat sports.
Career
Boxing career; "King of the 4 Rounders" (1994–2002) Esch began his fighting career on the Toughman Contest scene in Texarkana, Arkansas, in the early 1990s and went on to become a five-time World Toughman Heavyweight Champion with a record of 56–5 with 36 knockouts. He received the nickname "Butterbean" when he was forced to go on a diet (consisting mostly of chicken and butterbeans) in order to meet the Toughman 400 pound (181 kg) weight limit under the new age trainer Prozay Buell, "the better Buell".
He made his professional boxing debut on October 15, 1994, beating Tim Daniels by decision in Birmingham, Alabama. He soon developed a cult following and became known as "King of the 4 Rounders". Speaking of his popularity in a 2008 interview with BoxingInsider, Esch stated:
Esch ran up a string of wins, mostly by knockout, before being stopped in two rounds by last-minute replacement Mitchell Rose on December 15, 1995. Rose would later claim that representatives of Top Rank Boxing approached him the night before the fight and offered him $5,000 to throw the match. Esch would then go on to win or draw his next 51 matches (although a number of his wins and draws by decision were considered highly controversial). His most notable win during that time was against Peter McNeeley. Esch never defeated an actively ranked heavyweight contender by any of the four major boxing organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO). In 1997, however, his promoter Bob Arum convinced the International Boxing Association (IBA) to create a title specifically for Esch called "The IBA Super Heavyweight Championship". In a 1999 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Arum said, "I came up with the idea to make him 'King of the Four-Rounders' and got (IBA commissioner) Dean Chance to give him a belt as champion of the nonexistent super heavyweight division." Esch would occasionally defend the title on the undercards of popular main events. He made six successful defenses before the title was relinquished in 2000. That year, the lightly regarded World Athletic Association (WAA) briefly granted him their vacant heavyweight title with the same promotional concept in mind, but quickly backtracked after a couple of poorly regarded matches.
Esch's five-year streak was brought to an end with a majority decision defeat by heavyweight Billy Zumbrun in August 2001. The following year, he fought his first ten-rounder against 52-year-old former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 27. While Holmes won a unanimous decision, Esch was credited with a controversial knockdown in the final round, which was later shown in filmed replays as not being a knockdown, no punch having landed, and it was a slip; Holmes 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.
K-1 (2003–2005) Esch ventured into the sport of kickboxing in 2003 when he was recruited by K-1 and debuted with a first-round knockout of Yusuke Fujimoto at K-1 Beast II 2003 in Saitama, Japan, on June 29, 2003. K-1 was then keen to match him up with Ernesto Hoost, but he declined to take the fight on the advice of a friend who warned him of the Dutchman's kickboxing prowess. He instead faced Mike Bernardo in a non-tournament bout at the K-1 Survival 2003 Japan Grand Prix Final in Yokohama, Japan, on September 21, 2003. He was floored twice with low kicks in the first round before being finished with a high kick in the second.
In his first mixed martial arts bout, Esch took on Genki Sudo in an openweight affair at K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!! in Nagoya, Japan, on December 31, 2003. Despite having a weight advantage over his foe, Esch was unable to capitalize as Sudo was unwilling to exchange strikes. "The Neo-Samurai" took Esch to the mat with a low, single-leg takedown at the end of round one and attempted a leglock only to be halted by the bell signaling the end of the round, which had been a stalemate up until then. Early in round two, the fighters tumbled to the ground after Sudo attempted a dropkick on Esch, and the Japanese grappling ace took full advantage of the American boxer's lack of grappling skill by securing a heel hook submission at the 0:41 mark.
Returning to the kickboxing ring at K-1 Beast 2004 in Niigata on March 14, 2004, Esch lost a unanimous decision to Hiromi Amada as Amada peppered him with low kicks while Esch did little more than taunt his opponent throughout the match. He was scheduled to fight Bob Sapp soon afterwards, but claims that Sapp's management withdrew their fighter after discovering that Amada had needed hospital treatment after his bout with Esch. Butterbean lost his third consecutive K-1 match at K-1 Beast 2004 in Shizuoka on June 26, 2004, losing to giant Montanha Silva by unanimous decision.
Competing in the eight-man tournament at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii in Honolulu on July 29, 2005, Esch put an end to his losing streak when he scored a third round standing eight count en route to a unanimous decision victory over brawler Marcus Royster in the quarterfinals. Despite the win, Esch sustained an injury to his left leg during the fight and could not continue and so Royster was entered back into the tournament in his place.
Professional wrestling (1997, 1999, 2009–2012) Esch appeared twice in World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling events, competing in boxing matches both times. On December 7, 1997, at the D-Generation X: In Your House pay-per-view event, he defeated former Golden Gloves champion Marc Mero via disqualification in a worked match by hitting Butterbean with a wooden stool. 15 months later, Esch 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.
In 2009 he returned to professional wrestling on the independent circuit. He defeated Trent Acid for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight title on May 29, 2009, in Garfield, New Jersey. On June 10, 2009, Esch defeated One Man Kru at OmegaCon at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama, at a wrestling event for charity. Nearly a year later he dropped to the title to Kevin Matthews on May 9, 2010. Also, he wrestled for Juggalo Championship Wrestling. On April 1, 2011, Esch teamed with Officer Adam Hadder in a tag-team match against One Man Kru and WWE Hall of Famer Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake in a charity wrestling event taped for an episode of Big Law: Deputy Butterbean, a reality show which aired on Investigation Discovery. On March 31, 2012, he defeated Cliff Compton at the event WrestleRama Guyana in Georgetown, Guyana.
Pride Fighting Championships (2006–2007)
Having lost his MMA debut to Genki Sudo, Esch stuck with the sport 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 at Rumble on the Rock 8 in Honolulu on January 20, 2006, in a fight which took place under special rules, ground fighting being limited to fifteen seconds per instance regardless of the situation. He returned to Japan with the Pride Fighting Championships on August 26, 2006, to compete at Pride Bushido 12 in Nagoya against Ikuhisa Minowa, a shoot wrestler known for his willingness to face much larger opponents, to whom he lost via armbar submission at 4:25 of round one.
Esch was set to fight Mark Hunt at the promotion's first North American show, Pride 32, in Las Vegas on October 21, 2006,"Pride 'Real Deal' Not Quite Done Deal". Sherdog. October 17, 2006. but the Nevada State Athletic Commission would not allow the match-up as they argued that Hunt's wins over Wanderlei Silva and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović gave him an unfair mat advantage."Ten Things That Need to Change in Mixed Martial Arts". Sherdog. November 14, 2006. Pride had stated that "visa issues" were preventing Hunt from competing in the bout,"Josh Barnett Passes Drug Test; Mark Hunt Still Off Pride Card; Gardner Not on Pride Card". MMA Weekly. October 20, 2006. but it was later confirmed that Hunt could not compete due to the NSAC's ruling. Pro wrestler Sean O'Haire stepped in as Hunt's replacement and Esch TKO'd him in under thirty seconds.
Departing Pride briefly to compete in Cage Rage, Esch submitted to strikes from Rob Broughton in the second round of their contest at Cage Rage 19 in London, England, on December 9, 2006. He then rebounded with a forty-three second knockout of James Thompson at Cage Rage 20 on February 10, 2007.
Esch returned to Pride for the promotion's last event, Pride 34 in Saitama on April 8, 2007, where he faced Zuluzinho in a bout where both men weighed in at (although the Brazilian was taller). Both fighters came out swinging before Zuluzinho scored a takedown. Esch reversed him, landing several hammer shots before finally submitting Zuluzinho with a key lock at 2:35 of the opening round.
Later career (2007–2013) Esch's next fight was on July 14, 2007, against reigning Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion Tengiz Tedoradze in a non-title bout at Cage Rage 25, 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). He was then set 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.
Esch made a brief return to K-1 to fight at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Hawaii on August 9, 2008, rematching Wesley Correira in the quarterfinals and losing via a second-round high kick KO.
Esch lost via first-round KO for the EBF title against Mark Potter at the Syndicate Nightclub in Blackpool, England, on September 14, 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.