Amateur MMA fighter choked out, left to die in Ohio woods

The last hours of Phil Masterson’s life were spent as he wanted to live it — fighting.
But in fact, his final battle was for life itself.
The 25-year-old Westlake man spent his last hours face-down in the woods on South Bass Island, struggling to breathe and clinging to life.
His beaten, bloodied body was clothed only in shorts.
He didn’t have to die, investigators said.
“In my limited medical experience, I don’t think he had to die,” Ottawa County Sheriff Bob Bratton said.
Masterson, an amateur mixed martial arts fighter, died of blunt-force trauma to the neck and abdomen, injuries consistent with kicks and punches, according to a preliminary autopsy report.
Strangulation also contributed to his death, according to Ottawa County coroner Jerome McTague.
Charged with murder in Masterson’s death is Zachary Brody, 27, who was arrested Wednesday morning near his apartment in Bowling Green.
Brody was later taken to the Ottawa County jail, where he’s being held on $750,000 bond. He also faces charges of voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault.
An affidavit — attached to a search warrant officers used to access Brody’s apartment — offers further details on what deputies learned happened to Masterson early Monday morning.
Masterson’s family reported him missing at about 6 p.m. Monday, and by Tuesday they were on South Bass Island searching for him.
At about 3 p.m. Tuesday, in the woods near an island bar, they found his body, covered with a canvas tarp.
Deputies interviewed several people during the investigation, including Matt Brotzki, Cameron Parris and Clifton Knote, according to the affidavit.
Early Monday morning, roughly 15 people were in cabins 90 and 92 at the Island Club, close to where Masterson’s body was later found.
According to the affidavit, Knote and Brotzki went to the Perrysburg police station when they heard a body had been found on the island.
Knote told officers that at about 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Monday, two men started beating on the doors and windows of cabin 90, waking everyone inside.
Brody went outside to “diffuse the situation” and asked the men to leave.
One man left, but the other — Masterson — refused to go away and began taunting Brody and threatening to punch him, Knote told police.
Masterson reportedly threw the first punch, according to the affidavit.
Brody placed Masterson in a choke hold until he passed out, then repeatedly punched the unconscious Masterson in the face, the affidavit stated.
Parris went outside, but soon returned to the cabin to relay his suspicions to Knote.
“(Brody) might have killed this guy,” Parris told Knote, according to the affidavit.
Brody, meanwhile, grabbed Masterson by the ankles and dragged him into the woods, the affidavit stated. Masterson was unconscious, but still breathing.
He may have remained alive for hours. When Brody went to check on him later that morning, Masterson was still breathing, Knote told police.
But no one called police or 911. Everyone from the cabins, in fact, later left the island.
Masterson remained in the woods.
Hours after leaving the island, Brody asked Knote to come to his apartment in Bowling Green, the affidavit stated.
There, Brody told Knote his story and acted concerned “that the guy he beat up was dead,” Knote told police.
No one came forward until after Masterson’s family found his body.
Brotzki, Knote and Parris could not be reached for comment.
Both Masterson and Brody had some training or exposure to mixed martial arts, according to numerous sources.
Masterson won his first amateur fight in July, said Dan Bobish, founder of Ultimate Cage Battles, a Cleveland-based mixed martial arts organization.
Brody, meanwhile, listed Brazilian jiu jitsu and submission grappling as interests on his Facebook page. Deputies also heard that he was involved in mixed martial arts.