VANCOUVER – It wasn’t exactly the heavyweight slugfest we expected, but after a grueling, grinding three-round affair, Andrei Arlovski (22-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) nabbed a narrow split decision victory (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) over a visibly upset Brendan Schaub (10-4, 6-4 UFC).

The heavyweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC 174 event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

Things got off to a tentative start in the first round, with a prolonged feeling-out process that saw both fighters vie for position in the clinch as fans slowly lost their patience. While both big men loaded up in search of one fight-ending punch on the feet, the result was a lot of swinging and missing, followed by a good deal of glancing up at the clock.

The most significant action came in the third, when a bloodied Schaub put Arlovski on his back and went to work with punches from inside the Belarussian’s guard. As Schaub swung away and splattered his own blood on Arlovski’s chest, Arlovski seemed content to survive the onslaught before eventually summoning the energy to kick Schaub off and scramble to his feet. From there they finished the fight as they had spent much of the first two rounds, with each man coming up short in the search for a knockout blow, and both claiming victory at the horn.

And while Schaub seemed fairly certain that he’d get the nod from the judges, two of three sided with Arlovski in his UFC comeback.

“There has to be some sort of major change with these judges,” Schaub said. “I have no idea what they’re doing, but clearly they weren’t paying attention to the fight. I know Andrei’s a big star, and maybe they were swayed by the fans’ reaction. Look at the punch stats and statistics, then tell me that he won that fight. This started with the bad decision in the Diego Sanchez vs. Ross Pearson fight last week (at UFC Fight Night 42), and I can’t believe it happened to me now. Maybe you can give Andrei the first round, but that’s it. The most significant strikes he landed on me were the two head butts. I don’t know what else to say.”

With the win, Arlovski notches his first UFC victory since 2008. Schaub snaps a two-fight winning streak with the loss.

“My game plan was to knock him out in the first round and really use my movement to open up my punches,” Arlovski said. “I wasn’t able to implement that plan the way I hoped to. I wanted to move more, but Brendan did a great job slowing me down.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC 174 results include:

Andrei Arlovski def. Brendan Schaub via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Ovince Saint Preux def. Ryan Jimmo via verbal submission (kimura) – Round 2, 2:10

For complete coverage of UFC 174, stay stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(John Morgan and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on-site in Vancouver.)