A Brief History
On August 3, 1960, the Esch family welcomed baby Eric into the world, little realizing this tiny baby would grow up to be a 425 pound behemoth of boxer, kickboxer, Toughman, MMA fighter, and of course, reality television star.
Digging Deeper
Born in Georgia and brought up in Michigan, (Esch picked up the nickname “Butterbean” due his large size, overweight even as a child, when he was forced to go on a diet to get under the 400 pound weight limit for Toughman), Esch got strong from hard physical work in construction, Eric was dared to enter a Toughman contest by his co-workers and won the contest. A career in Toughman competition ensued in the early 1990’s, with the big guy winning 56 of his 61 bouts, knocking out 36 of his opponents, and winning 5 World Toughman Heavyweight titles.
Success in Toughman competition brought fame and opportunities to fight in boxing, kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). In these fighting sports, Esch continued to be successful, winning 77 of his 91 professional boxing matches (mostly 4 round events), 3 of his 7 kickboxing fights (must be hard to kick when you are shaped like a beach ball!), and 17 of his 28 MMA bouts. His overall professional fighting record stands at 97 wins, 24 losses, and 9 draws.
Notoriety for his size and winning ways led to a reality television show called Big Law: Deputy Butterbean in which Esch is a reserve deputy in his current hometown of Jasper, Alabama. Apparently not enough exciting things happen in Jasper for the scandal and gore hungry television consumer, so the show only had one season in 2011.
Esch also continued his “acting” career with appearances in the movies Jackass and Chairman of the Board. His television credits include appearances in a variety of roles, in a cartoon, as an interview guest, as a professional wrestler, and in situation comedies. Video games are a natural for such a colorful character as Butterbean, and EA Sports put him right on the cover of their game, Toughman Contest. He also appears in other video games.
Far from just a large curiosity, Esch has been a serious fighter, with Championships in professional boxing (IBA Super Heavyweight, and WAA Heavyweight) and in MMA (Elite 1 Super Heavyweight).
Married with 3 kids, both of his boys are MMA fighters, although daughter Grace is not. Butterbean has been retired from professional fighting since 2013.
The huge size of Butterbean Esch has kept him from competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in which the Heavyweight division is capped at 265 pounds. Question for students (and subscribers): We at History and Headlines have long lamented the lack of a Super Heavyweight division in the UFC, what do you think? Please give us your opinion on Super Heavyweight fighters in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Toughman Contest. EA Sports, 1995. Sega Genesis Video Game.
