Dominick Cruz offers heartfelt message to John Lineker after fight withdrawal

In the wake of yet another missed opportunity, Dominick Cruz is reaching out to John Lineker to show him some appreciation.

Cruz and Lineker were scheduled to compete on Jan. 26 at UFC 233, but not long after their matchup was reported, Cruz suffered a shoulder injury in training and was forced to withdraw from their bantamweight encounter (UFC 233 would later be canceled after other major changes were made to the card). The bout was to be Cruz’s first fight since Dec. 30, 2016.

On Friday, former UFC champion wrote a heartfelt message to Lineker on Instagram:

“The deep respect I have for you as a human being outside of the Octagon is one of the biggest reasons I was honored to have this fight with you,” Cruz wrote, later thanking Lineker for reaching out to him.

Read Cruz’s full statement below:

The deep respect I have for you as a human being outside of the octagon is one of the biggest reasons I was honored to have this fight with you.

The opportunity would have been a great challenge for me next up in my career.

I regret that I didn’t get the honor of competing against you on our set date.

I appreciate you reaching out authentically from your heart with humility in your kind, powerful words.

Thank you for teaching ME what it looks like to be a whole-hearted inspiring human that looks at the 100,000 foot view, eliminating the self-focus concern that includes only selfish needs and interests.

This is a setback opportunity unfolding that will become part of my legacy.

With nothing but respect for you, I wish you the best in your next matchup and look forward to watching you further compete.

Cruz, 33, is no stranger to setbacks in his career. Injuries have cost him years of his prime, including stretches of inactivity from October 2011 to September 2014, and then from September 2014 to January 2016.