According to eye witness reports,Eilers, 30, was apparently attending a Christmas party with his family when tensions between himself and an ex-girlfriend, also attending the party, began to get out of hand. Eilers was asked to leave, but apperently refused and became enraged. According to accounts he began throwing things and yelling in a very aggressive manner, at which time, the owner of the home pulled a gun on Eilers and shot him in the chest.

Eilers, who trained with Pat Miletich had his first professional MMA fight back in 2003. He made his UFC debut in 2004, eventually working his way to a title shot against then champion Andrei Arlovski. Eilers lost and was out of the UFC one fight later.

He followed up his UFC stint by going 10-1 and was grandted a shot at EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva this past July. Eilers lost to Silva via TKO in the second round.

Eilers is survived by a young son.