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By Trudy Helmsing

Lagniappe staff

Knee caps and all-you-can-eat buffets may both be in danger as “Butterbean” and Tonya Harding both invade the USA Mitchell Center later this month for “Rumble in the Cage.”

Rumble in the Cage, a high-intensity cage fight event, will take place Jan. 26. Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Harding will co-headline the event, which begins at 8 p.m.

Esch, who will be taking on Tom Howard from Dallas, is a professional boxer and mixed martial artist who is best known for his bald head, massive girth and menacing scowl. The show at the Mitchell Center will be a mixed martial arts caged competition, which combines all the different forms of martial arts, including boxing, jujutsu and karate.

Raised in Jasper, Ala., this will be Esch’s first fight in Mobile.

“I’m always excited about fighting in Alabama,” he said.

Esch, who stands 5 ft. 11 in, tall and weighs in at 398 pounds, is a former IBA heavyweight champion. He has been working in mixed martial arts for the past six years and says it is his favorite form of fighting.

“I’ve gotten to travel a lot more with it. I’ve been to Japan and to England,” he said, adding that it will take him to Australia for the third time next month, as well.

Mixed martial arts rose to popularity in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based on fighters using different styles being pitted against each other. It is currently the fastest growing sport in the world.

“The reason why is it’s so exciting,” Esch said.

Along with his fighting career, Esch has appeared in several movies, including “Chairman of the Board” with Carrot Top and “Jackass: The Movie.” In “Jackass,” Esch actually knocked out co-star Johnny Knoxville in a particular scene, requiring the former stuntman to get several stitches in his head after the fight.

On working with Knoxville, Esch says he’s surprisingly down-to-Earth.

“He’s the only one of those guys with any intelligence,” he said.

Tonya Harding, who co-headlines the event with Esch, rose to fame as a two-time National figure skating champion in the ‘90s. She was the first U.S. woman to complete the triple axle in 1991, a record that still remains today. But she’s mostly remembered for the outlandish circumstances that surrounded her appearance in the ‘94 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Harding won fourth place in the 1992 Winter Olympics. At the 1994 U.S Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, a month before she was to skate in the 1994 Olympics, her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly hired Shane Stant to club Harding’s competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, in the knee. Kerrigan was unable to compete in the event, which Harding won. However, at the Olympics, Kerrigan had recovered to claim the silver medal, while Harding only got eighth place.

Shortly after, Harding pled guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution and was banned from competitive figure skating for life.

Since then, she has moved on to professional boxing with an overall record of four wins and three losses.

Esch met her at the very beginning of her fighting career when she was trying to get into boxing.

“She’s very different. She’s definitely the bad girl,” he said. At only 5’1”, he described her as a rough and tough little girl.

In 2000, Harding was allowed to skate again in the ESPN professional competition, where she scored second place, along with huge applause and standing ovations.

She will be fighting Sara West at the Mitchell Center event.

Also on the card for the night are Esch’s son Brandon Esch, Justin Ham, Rich Clement and Ring Girl Joanna Pena.

Tickets can be bought at the USA Mitchell Center Box Office, ticketmaster.com or by calling 251-460-6047. For more information, visit www.jimmyloganevents.com.

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