Andrei Arlovski won a controversial decision over Brendan Schaub on the main card of UFC 174 Saturday night. The heavyweight affair was mostly a cautious one, with action coming only in spurts, but through two rounds it appeared as if Schaub won the few meaningful striking exchanges on the feet.
In the third round, Schaub managed to score and stick a take down on Arlovski. Arlovski blocked a good deal of the ensuing strikes from his full closed guard, but never attempted to get up, sweep or lock up submission holds while Schaub kept a steady stream of punches and hammer fist strikes raining down on the former world champion.
Arlovski did manage to make the one big shot he landed count, however, connecting flush with an uppercut to the jaw of Schaub. By the swelling around the jaw of "The Hybrid," it would appear that his jaw may have been broken by the punch.
The former football player perservered, however, landing his take downs and ground striking in the aftermath of the uppercut. Schaub appeared on his way to having his name announced as the winner after the final horn when the judges instead surprised the fighters and crowd by declaring Arlovski the winner via split decision.*

The win comes in Arlovski's first fight in the UFC since 2008, when he scored a finish over Jake O'Brien. Schaub has a two-fight win streak snapped with the decision loss.
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