"What have I done?" - Petr Yan reveals his immediate reaction after landing illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling 

Petr Yan has revealed what went through his mind when he landed an illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling in their first encounter at UFC 259.

Speaking during the UFC 273 Countdown, 'No Mercy' shared that he immediately regretted his decision to land an illegal strike against Sterling. Yan added that, according to him, the fight should have been ruled a 'No Contest' instead of a victory for 'The Funk Master'.

"At that moment I was like: 'What have I done? It was all so close.' But I think, the worst scenario for me in that fight should have been ruled as 'No Contest' instead of awarding a loser fighter with the belt. After such a fight, a fighter with dignity would not accept this title and would not name himself a champion," said Petr Yan.

Watch the full UFC Countdown show for UFC 273 below:

Yan and Sterling fought for the bantamweight title at UFC 259. The Russian was getting the better of Sterling for the majority of the fight but things took an unfortunate turn in the fourth round.

Yan landed an illegal knee on a downed Sterling that resulted in him getting disqualified. 'The Funk master' was then crowned the new bantamweight champion that night.

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Ajamain Sterling says he was grateful to the referee for stopping his fight against Petr Yan after the illegal blow

Aljamain Sterling recently appeared on Ariel Helwani's show The MMA Hour. During the interview, the 32-year-old revealed that he was glad that his fight with Petr Yan was not allowed to continue after the Russian landed an illegal strike.

“Thankfully, the referee and doctor saved me from myself because had they given me five minutes, I would have continued the fight… they stopped the fight, and thankfully they did... Honestly, being that compromised as I was going into the fight, getting punched in the head repeatedly and then getting illegally kneed in the head with a strike I didn’t see coming. That fight isn’t getting any better for me. People can say whatever they want; I didn’t roll over; I didn’t quit. The referee saved me from myself, and I’m very, very appreciative of that.”

Watch Sterling's full appearance on The MMA Hour below:

The two are now set for a rematch at UFC 273 to unify the UFC bantamweight title. The card will be headlined by another title bout between Chan Sung Jung aka 'The Korean Zombie' and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.