1. Eric Esch, who is of German descent, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but at age four he and his family moved to St Johns, Michigan, only to move again at 11 years old to Jasper, Alabama, with his family.
51 Facts About Eric Esch
1. 2.
Eric Esch had a difficult childhood; his mother died when he was eight, and he was frequently bullied at school for being overweight.
3.
Eric Esch won the tournament and began his career in fight sports.
4.
Eric Esch received the nickname "Butterbean" when he was forced to go on a diet in order to meet the Toughman 400 pound weight limit under the new age trainer Prozay Buell, "the better Buell".
5.
Eric Esch made his professional boxing debut on October 15,1994, beating Tim Daniels by decision in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Eric Esch soon developed a cult following and became known as "King of the 4 Rounders".
7.
Eric Esch probably had five or six, seven fights before he got on TV.
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Eric 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.
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Eric Esch never defeated an actively ranked heavyweight contender by any of the four major boxing organizations.
10.
Eric Esch made six successful defenses before the title was relinquished in 2000.
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Eric 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.
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Eric Esch 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.
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Eric Esch was floored twice with low kicks in the first round before being finished with a high kick in the second.
14.
Eric Esch 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.
15.
Eric Esch appeared twice in World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling events, competing in boxing matches both times.
16.
Eric Esch defeated Trent Acid for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight title on May 29,2009, in Garfield, New Jersey.
17.
On June 10,2009, Eric Esch defeated One Man Kru at OmegaCon at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama, at a wrestling event for charity.
18.
Eric Esch 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.
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Eric Esch then rebounded with a forty-three second knockout of James Thompson at Cage Rage 20 on February 10,2007.
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Eric Esch reversed him, landing several hammer shots before finally submitting Zuluzinho with a key lock at 2:35 of the opening round.
21.
Eric 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.
22.
Eric Esch 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.
23.
Eric 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.
24.
Eric Esch lost via first-round KO for the EBF title against Mark Potter at the Syndicate Nightclub in Blackpool, England, on September 14,2008.
25.
Eric Esch won the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight Championship on May 29,2009, after defeating Trent Acid.
26.
Eric Esch lost in a first round TKO to Jeff Kugel on March 6,2010, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, in an MMA bout for Xtreme Cagefighting Championship 46: Beatdown at the Ballroom 9 in a devastating :40 second pummeling.
27.
Eric Esch lost the belt to Kevin Matthews on May 8,2010, in White Plains, New York.
28.
On October 3,2009, Eric Esch lost a four-round split decision to Harry Funmaker whom he earlier beat on two occasions.
29.
Eric Esch seemingly changed his mind and soon returned to competition.
30.
Eric Esch next took on up-and-coming super heavyweight Deon West at the LFC 43: Wild Thang MMA internet pay-per-view on October 12,2010.
31.
Eric Esch appeared in February 2012 at Wrestlerama in Georgetown, Guyana, where on entering the ring he told the crowd Guyana is his second home and was booed off because he mispronounced "Guyana".
32.
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.
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Eric Esch knocked out Storey 24 seconds into the second round.
34.
In 2022, Eric Esch began working with former wrestler and life coach Diamond Dallas Page to improve his health.
35.
Eric Esch is a reserve deputy sheriff in his hometown of Jasper, Alabama, and starred in the reality television documentary entitled Big Law: Deputy Butterbean, which aired on the Investigation Discovery channel in 2011.
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Eric Esch hoped the show would help the cause of law enforcement:.
37.
Eric Esch appeared in the film Jackass: The Movie, in a public stunt: an arranged fight with Johnny Knoxville in a department store.
38.
Knoxville did so, was easily knocked to the floor by Eric Esch, and received several stitches in his head after the encounter.
39.
Knoxville stated that Eric Esch is actually quite friendly outside of the ring, despite his fearsome ringside demeanor.
40.
Eric Esch 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 film's star Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson.
41.
Eric Esch appeared on Adult Swim's Squidbillies, where he sang the national anthem, finally beating up a fan for not taking off his hat.
42.
Eric Esch appeared on CMT's Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling television show, on Team Beefcake.
43.
In June 2013, Eric Esch was interviewed in Australia on Fox Sports programme, Monday Nights with Matty Johns.
44.
Eric Esch appeared on TruTV's Friends of the People in a sketch as "Dr Butterbean", using his sweet science boxing skills as an anesthesiologist.
45.
On September 22,2022, Eric Esch appeared on an episode of Celebrity Family Feud titled "The Cast of Jackass", as part of the Tremaine family, competing against the Knoxville family.
46.
On July 16,2005, Eric Esch fought Dieter of Rover's Morning Glory, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, in a bout billed as "War on the Shore".
47.
Eric Esch was featured on the cover of, and was the final boss character in, the EA Sports game Toughman Contest, released in 1995 for the Sega Genesis and Sega 32X.
48.
Eric Esch appeared as a playable character in all of the EA Sports boxing video games in the Knockout Kings series.
49.
Eric Esch is a playable fighter in EA's fifth installment of the Fight Night series Fight Night Champion.
50.
Eric Esch is married to Libby Gaskin and has three children: sons Brandon and Caleb, and daughter Grace.
51.
In 2018, Eric Esch opened a family-run restaurant in Jasper, Alabama, called Mr Bean's BBQ.