UFC 280: Aljamain Sterling ready for next title defense with a little help from his friend, Merab Dvalishvili

A few days ahead of a flight to Abu Dhabi last week, Aljamain Sterling spent some spare time among his people: Long Island’s mixed martial arts community, to be exact.

The UFC bantamweight champion from Uniondale hosted an open workout at LAW MMA in Garden City to give fans a close-up view of training ahead of his championship matchup with T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 on Oct. 22. As Sterling answered questions on topics from fight picks to…