Welterweight pro Cornelius Godfrey, 25, died early Thursday morning in a one vehicle motorcycle accident. Police say he was wearing a helmet. It is unknown if speed or alcohol played a role in the accident.
Godfrey was an outstanding amateur boxer (won a Golden Gloves title) and outstanding amateur MMA fighter (12-2, with titles in two organizations). He tried professional boxing, winning his first fight, but opted to focus on MMA, where he was 8-1.
Originally from West Virginia, Godfrey moved to Ohio, where he trained at the Ronin Training Center in Grandview Heights. He had previously trained at the highly-regarded Ground Zero Fighting Systems, in Huntington, WV.
A graduate of Marshall University with a degree in Athletic Training/Sports Medicine, Godfrey leaves behind a wife, Brittany, and young daughter Naomi.
XFC President John Prisco released a statement, via Facebook:
“Cornelious Godfrey, who fought on XFC was killed in a motorcycle accident a few hours ago. Would like to Dedicate tomorrows show in his honor, we will miss you Cornelious, it’s heartbreaking to see people like Cornelious leave us when they had so much life left to live. He left a loving wife and child, RIP Corny.”
The local NBC affiliate has the story.
A motorcyclist was killed early Thursday morning after detectives say he crashed into a guard rail on the city’s northeast side.
Columbus police responded to the intersection of North Hamilton and East Dublin Granville roads at about 3:35 a.m. Thursday after on a report of a crash.
According to police, a woman pinged her husband’s cell phone after she hadn’t heard from him for a couple of hours. The ping led the woman to the intersection of North Hamilton and East Dublin Granville roads where she found parts of his motorcycle in the roadway. The woman called for help and Columbus police used the department’s helicopter to locate the motorcycle and the victim.
Detectives say it appears the man, identified as 25-year-old Cornelius Godfrey, crashed his motorcycle into a guardrail, causing it the flip over the guardrail and down a six foot embankment.
Godfrey was driving home from the Hamilton Pub just a mile away from the scene of the crash, according to police.
Medical personnel pronounced Godfrey dead at the scene at 3:45 a.m.
