Rei Tsuruya

Japan

Suffers first pro defeat
FlyweightUFC
March 8, 2025
Tsuruya lost to Joshua Van via unanimous decision (27-30, 27-30, 27-30) at UFC 313 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
This was a dreadful performance from Tsuruya, but there are a couple positives to take away from it. For starters, he knows where his bread is buttered. Tsuruya fired off a whopping 21 takedown attempts, landing four of them. He did next to nothing with his positional advantage, but at least he was trying to fight to his greatest strength. He also displayed excellent cardio. You have to be in terrific shape to shoot that much. That's the good news. The bad news is that his entries are shockingly basic, and he has no real stand-up skills to speak of. Tsuruya won't turn 23 years of age until late-June, so he can afford a misstep such as this.
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Next fight scheduled
FlyweightUFC
February 17, 2025
Tsuruya is scheduled to compete against fellow flyweight Joshua Van at UFC 313 in Las Vegas on March 8, according to Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Tsuruya will be Bruno Silva's replacement after an undisclosed injury forced his withdrawal from UFC 313. It will be the former who takes on Van, who logged four fights in 2024 and went an impressive 3-1.
Takes decision in UFC debut
FlyweightUFC
June 29, 2024
Tsuruya defeated Carlos Hernandez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) at UFC 303 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Making his UFC debut as a massive -400 favorite, Tsuruya showed both good and bad in his first appearance with the company. For the most part, he got the better of Hernandez in a fight which was contested almost entirely on the mat. Tsuruya displayed plenty of creativity in the scrambling exchanges between the two, but it would have been nice to see him threaten his opponent on the feet a bit more. The fact Tsuruya faded in Round 3 isn't a great sign, either. Of course, most of this is irrelevant given the fact Tsuruya turned 22 years of age just a week ago. It's all about remaining healthy and getting consistent reps inside the Octagon at this stage of his career.
UFC debut set
FlyweightUFC
June 24, 2024
Tsuruya will take on Carlos Hernandez in a flyweight matchup at UFC 303 on June 29, according to the official UFC site.
ANALYSIS
Tsuraya is an undefeated, 22-year-old Japanese prospect who appears in line to enter as a sizable betting favorite in his company debut. He had previously competed in a respectable regional promotion, Pancrase, before earning his contract via the Road to the UFC competition. He now takes on Hernandez, a 30-year-old with a 9-3 overall record who has dropped two of his last three fights.