YARPP Thumbnail template contains title in post thumbnail??

Hello!
i am currently trying to design a custom YARPP theme, based on the thumbnails file within the yarp plugin folder (pulled a copy to the theme)

What’s bugging me is that i cannot remove the post title, which is stuck within the_post_thumbnail.

If I add this code, the title, and then the image pop up.
but i want the title to be rendered Below the image. Adding the_title works alright, but i also need to remove the initial title above it.

Here’s what it looks like in the browser right now:

View post on imgur.com

And here’s my code

<?php
/*
YARPP Template: CB-Thumbnails
Description: This template returns the related posts as thumbnails in an ordered list. Requires a theme which supports post thumbnails.
Author: YARPP Team
*/
?>
*/
?>

<?php
/* Pick Thumbnail */
global $_wp_additional_image_sizes;
if ( isset( $_wp_additional_image_sizes['et-pb-post-main-image'] ) ) {
	$dimensions['size'] = 'et-pb-post-main-image';
} else {
	$dimensions['size'] = 'medium'; // default
}
?>

<h3>Related Posts</h3>
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
<div class="yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal">
	<?php
	while ( have_posts() ) :
		the_post();
		?>
		<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) : ?>
		<a class="yarpp-thumbnail" 
			href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" 
			rel="bookmark norewrite" 
			title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>
		">

			<?php the_post_thumbnail( 
				$dimensions['size'], 
				array( 'data-pin-nopin' => 'true', 'title' => the_title_attribute() ) 
			);
			?>
			<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
				
			</a>
		<?php endif; ?>
	<?php endwhile; ?>
</div>
<?php else : ?>
<p>No related Posts.</p>  
<?php endif; ?>

if i remove the thumbnail from the code, the first title also goes. It must come from within somehow.

So my main question is how i can ensure not to render the title as the part of the thumbnail?