The Latest Episodes of INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet
Aug. 24, 2023

Butterbean On Brawl For All, Bart Gunn KO, Johnny Knoxville, 200+ Pound Weight Loss With DDPY

Butterbean On Brawl For All, Bart Gunn KO, Johnny Knoxville, 200+ Pound Weight Loss With DDPY

Eric Esch better known as Butterbean (@butterbeanboxer) is a professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Atlanta, GA to talk about how Diamond Dallas Page and DDPY helped him get out of a wheelchair and lose over 200 pounds! He also discusses his legendary boxing career, being the "King Of The 4 Rounders", how he got the nickname "Butterbean", being invited to be part of Brawl for All in WWE, the vicious knockout to Bart Gunn, the invitation from Johnny Knoxville to knock him out on an episode of Jackass, why he never fought Mike Tyson during his prime, wanting one more fight before he retires, his mixed martial arts career and more.

 

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Quote I'm thinking about:

“Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” - Roy T. Bennett

 

On working with DDP:

"Well, the main thing was stretching my legs. The muscles in my legs were so bound because I was at a 90-degree angle. I mean, if we walk up, you know, Hey, bro, how you doing? Yeah, I'd be in your chest. My head. My head. Was that just bent over? Wow. I mean, I have some friends that are little people. And I was about their height. That's how bent over, I was in a wheelchair. I couldn't walk."

On getting connected with Dallas:

"I mean, they got a hold of me probably 10 years ago trying to hook me in Dallas up. I said I'm not doing yoga. It ain't gonna help me, yoga? I laughed at him. And then I had Dallas on a podcast mean, Bas Rutten, Flex Wheeler. Flex goes Dallas, you gotta help Butterbean. Dallas goes I have a show coming up, called Change or Die. He goes, I can't tell you much about it because we just thought it up. I don't have much to say about it. And I said I want to be on it. And I was willing to do anything just to be able to walk."

On preparing for another fight:

"Yeah, I mean, people laugh because I mean, you know, I've done appearances and things and I was talking about fighting. The lady comes on the internet and goes, he can't fight. He's in a wheelchair. You were right. I was in a wheelchair. But that's the remarkable part about this is to come from being wheelchair. I was inducted into the Alabama Hall Boxing Hall of Fame. Didn't go I was too embarrassed. So now it's like, I'm gonna prove to the world if you have discipline, and you're determined to do something you can accomplish anything. It's just like, just like Vinny Pazienza, broke his neck came back and won a world title."

On wanting to fight Mike Tyson:

"I would love to fight Tyson. That's one of the guys that we're seriously talking about. And that's why we're here. We're shooting basically a sizzle reel for a major company to show like, he's serious. He came from a wheelchair to like being a badass like he used to be. I never fought 300 pounds. When I walk in the ring, I'll be about 280. I've never fought that light. I've never fought under 315. That was the lightest I've ever fought is 315."

Did it ever get close?

"I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, right now, it's probably the closest it's ever been. Because there are serious serious people in the business that want to see this tape and know I'm serious. I'm very serious about it."

On fighting Jake Paul:

"I would love to fight Jake Paul. But he's too smart to fight me. I'm being honest. I mean, I'm not saying he's a coward or anything like that, but I would destroy him. I think he knows I mean, I hit way too hard for him."

On Jake Paul’s boxing:

"It's getting better. You know he made a statement a while back about me, he's like, they said something about him. He goes I'm not I'm not like Butterbean, I'm not I'm not a joke. Yeah, ever since I wanted to fight him. Just to show him I mean if he thinks I'm a joke, I want to fight him."

On strangers challenging him to fights:

"I really never did. When I first started as a bouncer had one guy you know, kind of challenged me. I'm gonna do it. If you beat me up. I'm gonna lose my job and won't have a boxing career. If you know how to talk to people, you can get out of fights. I mean, if money wasn't involved, I didn't want to fight, it hurts."

On being brought in for the Brawl For All:

"I was supposed to be on the pay-per-view before Tyson got out. Me and Tyson were going back and forth about me and him fighting. No bad blood me and Mike get along great. But they didn't want us in the same arena because they thought it’d be legit. See to me, fighters don't fight like that. I mean, if you're a legit fighter, you're a professional fighter. You act like a professional. You don't get in a fight prior to the fight. There's no sense, it’s stupid. But they didn't want to put us together. So, Bart, my understanding was supposed to lose to Dr. Death. And he didn't, he knocked him out. So I was brought in as punishment. That's the story I got behind the scenes."

What Vince told Butterbean before the WrestleMania match:

"Vince would say Bean just give it all you got. I mean, it was like okay, I'll do it. I mean, it was easy. It was pretty easy. If he had come out like brawling, I just went back to tough man days three one-minute rounds. So I went back to just giving everything you got just go wide. Open your box and get three minutes. You gotta pace yourself a little bit. People don't realise how long three minutes is. One minute goes too quickly. And he tried to box, bad mistake." 

On knocking out Johnny Knoxville:

"They just called me up and I thought it was like a movie. And my son goes Dad, you never seen Jackass? I said no. He said just make sure you know what they want you to do before you go. So I go they want me knockout Johnny. All right. And so I thought I was talking to Johnny about like, the script. You know, what do you want? How do you want to do this? They go, we really want you to knock me out. Like okay, in Johnny goes. That's when I got scared because me and Johnny became friends. He goes when you agreed to knock me out so quick he said I got terrified. You know, he goes out and let's say a 1,200-pound bull charges him. He said I got scared."

On possibly becoming a wrestler:

"They actually talked to me and they've even you know, they've come to me and Vince even said he says you're more of a wrestler than a boxer. But the money is making so much more money boxing and I was fighting so regularly. I was fighting, I fought three times a month."

What is Butetrbean grateful for:

“DDP, all the people that do support me and just to be alive.”