Aljamain Sterling posts clip to prove he injured his back 3 weeks before Petr Yan rematch

Aljamain Sterling revealed that he reaggravated his back injury just three weeks before his rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273.

The reigning bantamweight champion also has proof for those who question his claims. Sterling posted a video on Instagram showing how he hurt his back during training camp. The post came with the caption:

"The theme of my fight camp was 'Just make it to the fight in one-piece'. I didn’t wanna have the Yan-stans talking shit about me pulling out of the fight. This happened just 3 weeks before fight night, that I mentioned on the @arielhelwani show. 'I broke my back… Spinal!'"

Watch the video below:

In the footage, 'Funk Master' was seen practicing a standing rear-naked choke on his teammate. The champ successfully made his sparring partner tap, but then they both crashed onto the mat with Sterling's back taking the brunt of the impact.

Sterling yelled in pain, but was instructed to keep going and hide his struggles. The Uniondale native promptly got back on his feet and went for another round of sparring.

'Funk Master' also revealed that he chose not to pull out of the fight despite his injury, so that he could finally silence the "Yan-stans." Continuing with his message, Sterling wrote:

"The guys told me to pretend Yan hit me with another illegal strike and to push through the round😅 That post hit me right on the spine as I was pulling backwards on the RNC finish. Btw that wasn’t me making that weird sound."

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Aljamain Sterling says he'd be happy to go 3-0 against Petr Yan

Due to the controversial nature of their first two fights, Petr Yan has demanded a trilogy bout against Aljamain Sterling.

While Sterling has already named T.J. Dillashaw as his preferred challenger, he said he's still open to completing a trilogy with the Russian. Appearing as a guest on The MMA Hour, the 32-year-old said:

"If he wants to be 0-3 against 'The Funk,' we can make it happen. If you look at his record, two of those losses are from me, so if he wants a third, we can do it again."

Check out Aljamain Sterling's interview below: