Count Dante and the Cut Throat Ring Report
August 8, 2006

Last Thursday, August 3, the current Count Dante took to the cyberspace airwaves on FearlessRadio.com's "Cut Throat Ring Report." The show, which covers the world of mixed martial arts, devoted its entire two-hour timeslot to the quest for John Keehan, the original Count Dante.

Filmmaker Floyd Webb, who is currently producing the documentary "The Search for Count Dante" was in the studio and told Dante lore of the deadly dojo wars and nearly averted cases of kung-fu animal abuse. Much of the program was spent speculating on whether or not the original Count Dante was truly dead. OG Dante reportedly died in 1975 from a bleeding ulcer, and Webb even has the death certificate to prove it. However, such an ignominious demise seems ill fitting for one who struck so much fear into the martial arts world. Floyd Webb recounted that several of Dante's associates from back in the day have said that they have seen original Dante alive and walking around his old Chicago haunts.

6'9" no-holds-barred powerhouse Wes Sims fanned the flames of this controversy by claiming that he had met an older, well-dressed martial artist with a mastery of ancient submissions in a New Orleans parking lot during an Ultimate Fighting card. The man told Sims that "his martial art was way too deadly," and then goaded the gargantuan grappler into trying to stab him with a foam knife as part of an impromptu demonstration.

"I attempted to stab this gentleman," Sims recalled. The mysterious man put Sims in "some sort of wristlock that temporarily crippled me, got me on the ground and had me screaming like a little girl."

Since becoming more familiar with the figure of Count Dante, Sims has become obsessed with The Count and now has the following message posted on his Myspace page: "Ric Flair and Count Dante are my two heroes in life; I often times ask myself in tough situations what they would do to handle the problem in front of me."

Later on in the program, they called the current band leader/motivational guru Count Dante for his input on whether or not Keehan is still walking the earth.

"You'd think if he was still alive, I would have heard from him by now," Dante said from his new Daly City compound. The Count also regaled host Mike Davis and Keith Palmer with tales of grappling El Homo Loco and the Poontangler and deep analysis of Ashida Kim's psyche.

Overall, FearlessRadio.com's Count Dante extravaganza was a smashing success for all concerned and helped to shed more light on the continuing Count Dante phenomenon.