Butterbean “MMA fight” turns into a fiasco….

It’s no secret that I’m not much of a Butterbean fan, and I actually get a wave of nausea when I hear him referred to as a “veteran of PRIDE”. The ‘bean’s latest foray into mixed martial arts didn’t work out too well for him and his night ended with him having to endure a “Butterbean sucks” chant from the 3,000 fans in attendance.

First of all, it *was* in Muskegon, Michigan which explains why 3,000 people couldn’t find anything better to do on a Saturday night than pay good money to watch Butterbean “fight”. His opponent was a guy named Matt Blaine–now don’t go trying to find Blaine on Sherdog or BoxRec. Unless there’s some sort of website with archival records for professional appliance movers, he’s not going to be there. Unlike most of the longshoremen, truck drivers, nightclub bouncers–and now appliance movers–whom Butterbean considers worthy opponents, Blaine decided to take the fight to his opponent.

From the outset, Blaine went at Butterbean with repeated knees to his stomach. Butterbean–not used to a level of competition that actually hits back–complained about low blows, though the referee in charge didn’t do anything about it or indicate that his claims were valid. You’d have thought that Butterbean was in there with Anderson Silva judging from his reaction–between rounds 1 and 2 Butterbean quits on his stool and somehow the “Cage Combat” promotion running the event got it ruled a double DQ. Not sure how you end up with that result when one guy is ready to fight and one guy quits, but I’m sure its in Butterbean’s contract that he’ll only fight guys that make Peter McNeely look like Sonny Liston.

Tom Kendra, writing in the local fishwrap, savages Buterbean. Check out the “goo filled stomach” blast:

Butterbean didn’t make any fans in Muskegon on Saturday night.

In fact, the loudest chant of the night at L.C. Walker Arena was “Butterbean sucks!” when he quit after the first round — followed by a chorus of boos after officials declared his main event bout with Muskegon’s Matt Blaine a double disqualification, for reasons that are still unclear.

Blaine, a local appliance mover, whipped Eric “Butterbean” Esch like a cheese omelette in front of 3,000 fans in the latest Cage Combat MMA event, repeatedly kneeing the Toughman Contest legend in his goo-filled stomach.

The guy doesn’t display a lot of knowledge about MMA, though he does have the good sense to realize that Butterbean is a complete fraud. And despite his somewhat disdainful attitude toward MMA I have to like the guy for the “goo filled stomach” blast alone. Well played, Mr. Kendra!

Fans, area fighter deserved better by Tom Kendra @ Muskegon, MI fishwrap

Here’s a revolting promo video of Butterbean from the Japanese kickboxing promotion K-1. This video is not for the weak of heart, as we’re subjected to the site of ‘bean jumping rope and eating.

I couldn’t find a video of Butterbean’s “fight” from last night, so here’s a clip of his matchup against Ikuhisa “Punk” Minowa at PRIDE Bushido 26:

I opined further on Butterbean’s bad night in Muskegon over at the Epic Carnival

UPDATE: To help my readers get over the nausea caused by that Butterbean promo video, here’s a video highlight reel of Anderson Silva. The guy named Hipnotik that put this together has done a few other excellent video compilations. Anyway, I’m not sold that Silva is the “pound for pound” best in the world but he’s definitely up there:

[tags]Butterbean, MMA, mixed martial arts, media, Epic Carnival, Hipnotik, flyover country, angry mobs[/tags]

Sunday, February 10th, 2008 Fantasy Insider Online, media, mma

9 Comments to Butterbean “MMA fight” turns into a fiasco….

Frank
February 11, 2008

Matt Blaine was 6-0 before the Butterbean fight and has trained for 2 years. He is an incredible athlete, has great stand up, and is a submission machine. Some of his fights are on youtube.

rocky
February 11, 2008

To be fair, Matt came into the fight 6-0 in MMA, and has been training specifically in MMA for the last two years. Previously to that, he was a Golden Gloves boxer and has incredible striking skills. I don’t think it is fair to discredit him because he has an occupation outside of fighting.

Clearly Butterbean expected a brawler, and not an actual technical fighter. Also he only took the fight under the stipulation that the event’s rules were modified (10-second ground rule, then immediate standup) since he doesn’t want actually fight MMA.

Congrats to Matt on a great performance.

The Prophet
February 11, 2008

Matt Blaine was 6-0 before the Butterbean fight and has trained for 2 years. He is an incredible athlete, has great stand up, and is a submission machine. Some of his fights are on youtube.

Thanks for the info–I definitely have no disrespect for Blane and hope I didn’t imply such in my post. He was the only guy who came to fight on Saturday, and Butterbean didn’t have a “Plan B” once he realized that he was in with a guy who wasn’t going to stand there and let him take potshots at him. Hopefully the publicity from his go-round with Butterbean will help him advance his MMA career in the future.

Butterbean–like another washed up boxer, Tommy Morrison–wants to gravy train on the popularity of MMA without actually competing in it. At least Morrison was a real boxer at one point–there’s not a lot of guys out there who can say they own a unanimous decision victory over George Foreman. That’s why guys like Bean and Morrison insist on favorable rules–they want to turn MMA intoa sideshow to the detriment of up-and-coming real fighters like like Blane and others.

josh
February 11, 2008

I was at the fight on Saturday and know Matt personally he is not just a chump appliance mover he is a business owner. He is a dedidicated athlete who hits the gym 4 times a week, weight lifts 3 times a week on top of working about 60 hours a week. He took the fight with dumbass Butter Bean seriously and trained hard expecting top level competition–what a joke–then even agreed to his cry baby (10 second rule change) and still continued to fight like a real fighter after Butter bean gouged his eye and refused to break when the referee saw him doing it!!!! Butter bean SUCKS and Matt “Tower of Pain” Blaine is a true MMA fighter!!!

The Prophet
February 12, 2008

You’ll get no argument from me that Butterbean SUCKS, and I didn’t mean to disparage Blaine in any way. I took what was reported in the Muskegon newspaper at face value which was clearly a mistake on my part. I respect the hell out of any professional fighter and a guy who’s able to dedicate himself to the sport *and* hold down a day job and have a family is definitely a stud.

In any case, hopefully the coverage of the fight will help Blaine’s career and help expose Butterbean for the fraud that he is. We’ve been railing against Butterbean since is days as a “boxer” when he thought “MMA” was some kind of sandwich. So props to Blaine and again my apology if my comments were construed as derogatory to him. Hard working guys looking for a break in the sport are the lifeblood of prizefighting and the last thing I’d ever do is disrespect anyone in that situation.

The Prophet
February 12, 2008

BTW, if anyone who was at this fight could take the time to answer a few questions for me I’d appreciate it. I’d like to do a follow up further disparaging Butterbean for his sissy rules and the eye gouge and giving Blaine the props and respect he deserves. Drop me an email at da1prophet@gmail.com and I’ll reply ASAP.

Frank
February 12, 2008

E-mail sent

Frank

josh blaine
February 12, 2008

e-mail sent!!!

toxiChilli
October 7, 2009

Agreed that Butterbean is a little bit of gimmick, but after watching the video on youtube it really does look as if Matt Blaine kicked in him the balls intentionally, not once, but twice.

ProphetFighting

Commentary and Analysis of Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts