What Is Butterbean’s Net Worth?
Butterbean is an American retired professional boxer who has a net worth of $500,000. You may know Eric Butterbean from his time as a professional boxer, or maybe the time he spent in the wrestling ring or his time as a kickboxer.
Yes, Eric Esch, popularly known as Eric Butterbean, was all these things and more.
The big man practically made a circuit of professional fighting competitions while gathering awards and accolades from the early ’90s till date.
While everyone else would focus on honing their skills in a particular field, Butterbean just bulldozed through the competitions, kicking behinds and taking names.
His trophy shelf must be groaning under the weight of all his achievements.
His MMA debut wasn’t much to write home about, but that doesn’t make his other achievements less impressive.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg that is Eric “Butterbean” Esch.
We’ve gathered all the information you need to know about the multi-talented fighter, from his place and date of birth to Eric Butterbean’s net worth.
That’s right; we’ll let you know how much it is that Eric Butterbean has gathered from his forays into those different competitions.
The Origin Story
Eric Scott Esch was born on August 3, 1966, in Atlanta, Georgia.
There isn’t much information on his childhood, but we know it didn’t happen in a single location.
Butterbean’s family moved around a lot but finally settled in Jasper, Alabama, when he was eleven.
His childhood also wasn’t a walk in the park either.
His mother died when he was just eight years old, and he kept getting picked on at school because he was overweight.
Wife
Butterbean is presently married to Libby Gaskin, and they have two sons and a daughter; Brandon, Caleb, and Grace.
His two sons are following in their father’s footsteps and are mixed martial artists.
There is no mention of any other relationship before his marriage.
His Toughman Career
Eric’s fighting career began with competing in Toughman contests in Texarkana, Arkansas.
His friends had dared him to enroll in a Toughman Contest by his colleagues at the Southern Energy Homes plant in Addison, Alabama, where he worked.
To accomplish the dare, he had to receive training in Bay City, Michigan.
It turned out that Eric was quite good at the fighting business when he became a World Toughman Heavyweight Champion— not once, but five times.
Eric Esch became Butterbean after his trainer, Prozay Buell, “The Better Buell,” put him on a diet made up of mainly chicken and butterbeans.
That was to help Eric get up to the 400-pound weight limit of the Toughman competition.
His Boxing Career
Eric’s first professional boxing match was on October 15, 1994.
He got a win against Tim Daniels in Birmingham, Alabama.
He kept winning matches after that, mostly with knockouts and all under four rounds. He began to be called “King of the Four Rounders.”
Butterbean’s first loss was on December 15, 1995, against Mitchell Rose, but he kept winning after that.
He got 51 consecutive wins around the United States, even one against Peter McNeeley.
He stepped up the ladder to win the International Boxing Association Super Heavyweight Championship on April 21, 1997. He held the title till 2000, defending it five times.
His first fight that lasted more than four rounds was against Larry Holmes in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 27, 2002. The fight was ten rounds long.
His Kickboxing Career
Butterbean’s Kickboxing career was less star-studded than his boxing career.
He won his first match on June 29, 2003, against Yusuke Fujimoto in Saitama, Japan.
That was at the K-1 Beast II tournament in 2003, and Eric Esch’s next kickboxing win came in 2005 against Marcus Royster.
He had three Kickboxing losses and a disastrous first MMA match with a shocking defeat against Genki Sudo, over whom he had a 240-pound weight advantage.
His Wrestling Career
Butterbean’s time in wrestling was a joy to behold. He suffered very few defeats in his entire wrestling career.
He also had some spectacular wins to his name. One of which was his 34-second knockout of WWF Brawl For All champion Bart Gunn on March 28, 1999.
After a ten-year break, he returned to professional wrestling with a match against Trent acid on May 29, 2009.
That was a match for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate heavyweight title in Garfield, New Jersey, and Butterbean defeated Trent.
However, Butterbean lost the title to Kevin Matthews on May 9, 2010.
His Comeback?
In 2023, Butterbean expressed his willingness to come out of retirement to fight Jake Paul. This would mark a significant return for Butterbean, who has been retired for over a decade. “I’m going to fight one last fight,” he wrote on his Instagram.
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Net Worth
So, how much is boxer Butterbean worth? Eric earned most of his wealth from his career as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and boxer. Butterbean has appeared in a ton of video games. These include the Toughman Contest and EA sports’ Knockout Kings. Therefore, Eric “Butterbean“ Esch has an estimated net worth of $500,000.
He has also appeared in movies, video-games, and there was even a reality tv series that centered around him and aired on the Investigation Discovery Channel in 2011.
Big Law: Deputy Butterbean starred Eric Esch as himself as a reserve deputy sheriff in Jasper, Alabama. The channel didn’t renew the show for another season.
Eric owns a restaurant in his hometown, Jasper, Alabama, called Mr. Bean’s BBQ.
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