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:

@ufcjohnlineker , 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.