Case of the Disappearing ‘Bean

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Nov. 6 -- Weights are in for Xcess Fighting's debut card and all fighters made weight except for one. In fact, he never tried.

Nowhere to be found, main event attraction Eric "Butterbean" Esch (Pictures) was replaced by the man who's made a career of being a last second replacement, Ruben "Warpath" Villareal (Pictures).

"I was originally supposed to fight Mark Kerr (Pictures) but I had to drop out because of personal obligations," said Villareal. "But I took care of those and when I was called I was ready, so I took it."

"I can only speculate that he saw Jimmy and … he got Titanitis," said promoter Bruce Bellocchi regarding Butterbean'd disappearance, hinting that perhaps the former boxer thought twice about facing longtime veteran Jimmy "The Titan" Ambriz (Pictures).

"There were things on his calendar that suddenly conflicted," Bellocchi said. "We were giving him everything he wanted but he basically got cold feet."

Bellocchi put out an offer in hopes of luring Butterbean into the cage with Ambriz: "$20,000 winner take all."

Another name fighter that was supposed to be on Wednesday's MMA card at the Circus Nightclub, Tiki Ghosn (Pictures), had no opponent as of weigh-in time. It remains a possibility that he'll fight as opponents are being sought.



Official card and weights:
Jimmy Ambriz (Pictures) (280 lbs.) vs. Ruben Villareal (Pictures) (264 lbs.)
Mark Kerr (Pictures) (279 lbs.) vs. Stephen Gavin (254 lbs.)
Maverick Harvey (183 lbs.) vs. Marcus Gaines (184 lbs.)
Scott Epstein (145 lbs.) vs. Sergio Quinoles (145 lbs.)
Carmelo Marrero (Pictures) (224 lbs.) vs. Rafael Del Real (230 lbs.)
Fabio Costa (205 lbs.) vs. Paul Karsky (Pictures) (205 lbs.)
Jason Georgianna (Pictures) (135.5 lbs.) vs. Todd Guimond (Pictures) (135 lbs.)
Josh Gaskins (Pictures) (155 lbs) vs. Tony Garcia (149.5 lbs.)
Georgi Karakhanyan (Pictures) (146 lbs.) vs. Hildred Oliney (146 lbs.)
David Mejia (276.25 lbs.) vs. Greg White (Pictures) (256 lbs.)
Daniel McWilliams (Pictures) (180 lbs.) vs. Adam Lehman (179.5lbs.)
Jeff Willingham (Pictures) (143.25 lbs.) vs. Bobby Sanchez (Pictures) (145 lbs.)