Rei Tsuruya

Luis Gurule vs. Rei Tsuruya
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Tsuruya (-220); Gurule (+180)

Round 1
Gurule (11-3; 1-3 UFC), just two weeks removed from his first UFC win, looks to build on that momentum as he steps up on short notice against Tsuruya (10-1; 1-1 UFC), who was last in action over a year ago against now-champ Josh Van and most now rebound from that setback. The habitual flyweights have agreed to meet at 135 pounds here, and Marc Goddard is the referee. Tsuruya refuses the glove touch, and his southpaw stance against Gurule’s orthodox attack leads to immediate jostling of the lead hands. A few awkward, glancing exchanges result, but Tsuruya’s advantages in height and reach are stark. He lands a hard left that buckles Gurule’s legs momentarily, and he presses his advantage. He can’t land any more clean strikes, but hustles the American to the canvas, where he gradually moves to take back control. Gurule halts his positional advance, and Tsuruya punishes him with a brutal stream of ground punches that have Goddard looking on closely. Gurule survives and shells up, but when he tries to stand, Tsuruya hoists him, slams him back to the ground and takes back mount.
Tsuruya sinks a body triangle and starts fishing for a choke. He gets a neck crank and applies torque, and it’s enough: Gurule is forced to tap and Goddard is there for the save.
Impressive work from Rei Tsuruya to bounce back from his first professional loss in dominant fashion.

The Official Result
Rei Tsuruya def. Luis Gurule R1 3:19 via Submission (Neck Crank)

Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Van (-192), Tsuruya (+160)

Round 1
Preliminary headlining focus shifts from the heaviest weight class in the UFC instead to the lightest men’s division, as Van (12-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. Tsuruya (10-0, 1-0 UFC) has been elevated to that vaunted cable slot. As a note, this will be the first fight in the history of the promotion between two competitors born after the year of 2000, and referee Jason Herzog will do his best to keep pace with these two youngsters. The flyweights bump fists, and Tsuruya takes the center of the cage and hand-fights his opponent. Van starts to walk forward, where he jabs the body. Tsuruya shoots in on his hips, and Van shucks him off and escapes. Van stuffs a second takedown, and he turns Tsuruya towards the fence but is unable to keep him there. They jockey for position while kneeing one another in the thigh and midsection, and Van frees himself. When Tsuruya fakes for another takedown, Van sells out defending it and eats a left hand down the pipe. Van pays him back with a snappy right hand, and Tsuruya turns and runs to reset. Van tags him with another right, and he has to fend off another takedown from a long way away. Van works his way to the wall to put his back against it, helping defend the level change. Tsuruya keeps him tied up until Van explodes out of position, and he throws himself off-balance when trying to back off. Van walks him down and punches him in the face, stifling a takedown effort and breaking out of the tie-up. Tsuruya reaches out with a right hand, and he leans back to dodge a head kick that buzzes his cornrows. Van times a perfect right hand when Tsuruya ducks, and Tsuruya has to take a moment to recover. Van keeps after him, ready for the incoming takedown, and Tsuruya still manages to get lower and throws Van to his back. Van gets to his knees and escapes before anything comes from the successful takedown, and he gets back to walking the unbeaten fighter down. Tsuruya again ducks away to get safe, and Van punches him in the nose to bloody it. When Van looses a head kick, Tsuruya hits a successful single-leg entry and puts Van on his seat. Van jumps back up again and elbows Tsuruya on the break to end the round.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Van
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Van
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Van

Round 2
It takes no more than a few seconds for Tsuruya to shoot for a takedown, and Van shuts him down. The second effort results in both men dropping to their knees, and Van gets out of this one again and goes back to marching his opponent down. Tsuruya ducks and eats a right hand, and Van runs at him with his hands flying. Tsuruya takes one or two on the chin before grabbing Van’s arm and expertly slinging him to the floor. Tsuruya holds on from a high side control, keeping his right arm beneath Van’s head while his left hand slugs Van in the face. Van bursts back to his feet, and he uncomfortably frames of Tsuruya’s face to get some space. Van stuffs a takedown and lands a punch, and Tsuruya gives him two back that set up a single. Van drops to his knees to stop the takedown from going anywhere, and he lets go to stand up. Tsuruya connects at the end of a one-two, and he gets back to circling on the outer edge of the cage. Van disallows him from getting another takedown, pushing out of the clinch so he can throw hands. Tsuruya tries to pay him back, and Van goes to the body with two thudding punches. Tsuruya whiffs, dodges and comes out with a right hand over the top, only for Van to be in his face working him with front kicks and right hands. One particularly damaging front kick forces Tsuruya to shoot, and Van laughs it off and elbows Tsuruya in the face. Tsuruya tries to spin with an elbow in close range, and Van ducks and walks him down to club him in the face with a right hand. Van scores a left hand, grabs the back of Tsuruya’s neck and lowers himself into a painful knee, and Tsuruya shakes it off and spins with a back fist that does land. Van keeps after him until the horn.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Van
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Van
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Van

Round 3
There is a glove touch to open the last round, and three seconds in, Tsuruya shoots. Van is reminded by Herzog that his opponent is grounded so he does not throw knees, and he lets Tsuruya up so he can bust him in the face with an elbow. Van keeps plodding ever forward, kicking Tsuruya in the face and eating a right hand on the way out. Two more shots from Tsuruya run into a 125-pound brick wall, and Van wants nothing to do with the grappling and gets back to throwing hands. Any time he is about to land with something effective, Tsuruya shoots, and Van easily sprawls. Tsuruya sneaks in a right hand, and he wobbles back when apparently clipped on the way out. Van goes to the body, and his foe fakes a takedown to knee him in the body. Van fires off a front kick, and it bangs into Tsuruya’s cup to force a Herzog stoppage. After 75 seconds, the fighters get back to it with a touch of gloves. Tsuruya shoots in with a naked takedown, and Van belts him in the side of the head as he backs himself to the fence. Van unleashes vicious left hands to the side, with Tsuruya all the way in for a takedown that he is not landing. Van turns the corner and gets out, and he puts his foot on the gas and hops away from a low kick. Van jabs his way in, and he walks through a Tsuruya punch to put one on Tsuruya’s chin. Tsuruya comes up short on a one-two, and Van stings him with a straight right hand. A second from “The Fearless” stumbles Tsuruya, who gathers his thoughts and spins with a back fist that brushes off the side. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 failed takedowns have now come from Tsuruya, and Van walks him down and kicks him in the gut. Van goes to the body and wings a right hand up top, but the big right hand misses his target. Van jams a front kick into Tsuruya’s midsection, and Tsuruya goes down clutching his groin. However, the toes from Van are shown to have stabbed into Tsuruya’s torso, and Herzog ushers them back to restart the fight despite that it was partially a groin shot. Van walks his man down, punching in the face repeatedly, and nearly dropping him right before the final bell. When time expires, Van raises his arms in the air and goes to talk to someone outside the cage, proud that he very likely ejected the Japanese fighter from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Van (30-27 Van)
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Van (30-27 Van)
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Van (30-27 Van)

The Official Result
Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Rei Tsuruya vs. Carlos Hernandez
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Tsuruya (-485), Hernandez (+370)

Round 1
Fresh off three wins on the Road to UFC series, unbeaten youngster Tsuruya (9-0, 0-0 UFC) has a shiny UFC contract and will be officially making his debut with the organization. He takes on 2021 Dana White’s Contender Series pickup Hernandez (9-3, 2-2 UFC), who has alternated wins and losses since joining the major leagues. The third man in the Octagon for this flyweight affair will be referee Marc Goddard, who sits back as the fighters touch gloves. Tsuruya moves to the center of the Octagon immediately, bouncing back and forth looking for a read. Hernandez paws out half-hearted jabs to find his distance, and he hops back when a right hand whizzes by his face. Tsuruya splits the guard with a one-two, and he absorbs a low kick on the way out. When Hernandez commits to an overhand right, Tsuruya drops low and gets hold of a single-leg takedown. Hernandez moves right to a knee and stands back up, and he moves around to take Tsuruya’s back and slams Tsuruya down on his face. When the Japanese fighter hits the mat, he is quick to pursue a kneebar, and he turns the heel to get hold of a possible heel hook. Hernandez turns out of both of them, fights off the potential calf slicer and stands back to his feet. Tsuruya lunges at him with a right hand, and Hernandez walks him down looking for a big right hand that he does not throw. Both fighters miss with short punch combinations, and Hernandez dings the youngster with a left hand on the way out. Tsuruya leans over to land a few strikes, and Hernandez leans back and gets off a right hand at the end of a combo. Tsuruya shoots in for a takedown, and Hernandez works his way to the wall and leans back against it to stay upright. The 22-year-old decides instead to hit a suplex to toss Hernandez to the mat, and he winds up in side control briefly after a mad scramble. Hernandez continues to move, not settling for any position, and Tsuruya sits on top of him at an odd angle. Tsuruya locks down one left of his opponent and turns it to the right, and looks to torque the torso to the left for a potential twister. Hernandez is wise to it, and he escapes the danger before the round concludes.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Tsuruya
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Tsuruya
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Tsuruya

Round 2
There is a quick tap of gloves to get things started in the second stanza, and Hernandez moves to the middle of the cage to start this one instead. Tsuruya dives after him in pursuit of a takedown, and he scoops Hernandez up and deposits him to the mat. Hernandez locks on with an arm-triangle of Tsuruya’s shoulder to trap him in this position, but he looses it to scramble and turn over to his knees. Tsuruya wraps up Hernandez’s left arm and smashes him in the dome with an elbow on the other side, and he is warned for it landing to the back of the head. Tsuruya gets hold of a crucifix position, and Hernandez moves wildly to free his limbs from the precarious posture. Tsuruya follows him in an effort to take the back, and he settles to hold on from one side. Hernandez sits up, with Tsuruya partially behind him, and Tsuruya goes after another twister setup. Tsuruya cranks Hernandez’ hips to the right and looks to pull on Hernandez’ left arm to torque his body in inhuman directions. Hernandez does everything he can to get out of it, and Hernandez turns the wrong direction but wriggles his leg out to escape at the last second. Hernandez flips over to put his back on the mat, where Tsuruya moves into a more standard position of the open guard. Hernandez tries to push off the hips, slash out with elbows and otherwise get some space. Tsuruya gets shoved up back to his feet, and he leaps back down on top and wraps his left arm around the neck for a possible guillotine choke. Tsuruya lets the neck go so he can look for Hernandez’ leg, and Hernandez keeps shifting and twisting. Tsuruya winds up sitting up dropping down 12-6 elbows on his opponent until the round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Tsuruya
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Tsuruya
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Tsuruya

Round 3
It takes Tsuruya three seconds to shoot for a takedown, and when that fails, he attempts to throw Hernandez behind him. Hernandez keeps heavy, instead pressing forward and landing on top of his opponent. During the exchange, their heads bang together and a cut is opened on the corner of Hernandez’ left eye, and it starts leaking blood down immediately. Hernandez maintains the heaviest of top pressures, not allowing Tsuruya to get any space but not ultimately doing any damage either. Hernandez resides in half guard, and Goddard asks for more activity and for Hernandez to try to improve his position. Tsuruya turns to his side and looks for a single in response, allowing Hernandez to sit up and elbow him a few times. Tsuruya gets to both knees, and he commits hard to the single but they stand up together and end up clinched on the fence. Hernandez squeezes his man up against the wire, until Tsuruya goes down to a knee to try to trip Hernandez to the floor. Hernandez stands up and jams Tsuruya up further, and the pace wanes as Hernandez turns things to a grind. Hernandez digs two left hands to the body before squeezing tightly against the Japanese prospect, occasionally opening up to land another punch or two as time keeps ticking. Tsuruya looks for an arm drag but Hernandez spins around and knees him in the liver. Tsuruya does not like this strike, and Hernandez goes after a single but cannot get it before time expires.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Hernandez (29-28 Tsuruya)
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Hernandez (29-28 Tsuruya)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Hernandez (29-28 Tsuruya)

The Official Result
Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)