It wasn't the best New Year's for both Dominick Cruz and Hector Bellerin.
UFC great Dominick Cruz suffered his first defeat in nine years when he was upset by young striking specialist Cody Garbrandt in the main event of UFC 207 last week, dropping his UFC bantamweight title in the process.
Cruz, typically one of the most elusive stand-up fighters on the entire UFC roster, was outmanoeuvred by Garbrandt over five rounds in just his second career loss.
Arsenal full back Bellerin may not be sporting the bumps and bruises that Cruz is but he too struggled to enjoy his start to 2017 as the Gunners conceded three goals at Bournemouth before fighting back to claim a 3-3 draw.
And after what wasn't the best day at the office for Bellerin, the Spaniard took inspiration from Cruz's classy and considered post-fight comments.
"Loss is part of life," Cruz said in his post-fight press conference.
"If you don't have loss, you don't grow. This isn't tough. This is life."
Bellerin shared the Instagram video of Cruz's remarks, adding the caption - "Sums up how I feel. Great fight from the team at a tough ground. Disappointed but we keep moving forward! "
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO0allPjtsd/
And, class act that he is, Cruz actually responded to Bellerin's post with some personalised words of motivation.
"Keep challenging yourself in this thing called life all the way to the top," Cruz wrote.
