This February, Stefan Struve was supposed to have the opportunity to avenge one of the ugliest losses of his career: a crushing 2009 knockout dealt by Junior Dos Santos. The two heavyweights were expected to rematch on February 19 in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Regrettably, Struve was forced out of this bout with a should injury, which means his shot at redemption at Dos Santos will have to wait.

On Thursday evening, the towering Dutchman took to social media to shed some light on his injury, give a timeframe for his return, and apologize to his fans and planned opponent. His words:

“Bad news folks,” Struve said in his statement. “Unfortunately I won’t be able to fight in Halifax february 19, I’ll be undergoing surgery to fix a torn labrum in my left shoulder tomorrow afternoon. Doct0r said I will be on the sideline about 4 months, and of course I’m gonna be doing my best to make it back asap. I apologize to the fans, especially the people who bought tix for the fight in Halifax, and of course the person I was scheduled to fight [Junior dos Santos] . It’s the very first time I have to pull out of a fight because of an injury and it hurts my heart to do it. I’ll keep you guys up to date about the surgery tomorrow and the rehab the next couple months. As always thank you for the support!”

See Struve’s statement on Instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPLtqwXjXHa/

As Struve explains, this is the first time he’s ever been forced out of a fight with an injury. He has, however, been forced out of bouts with other medical issues in the past.

When Stefan Struve is all healed up, who do you want to see him fight? Dos Santos, or somebody else? Play matchmaker and sound off in the comments, PENN Nation!