Rei Tsuruya Submits Kevin Borjas in Round 1 at UFC Shanghai
Rei Tsuruya needed less than a round to put Kevin Borjas away in Shanghai. The Japanese flyweight locked in a rear-naked choke at 4:14 of the first round on the UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song prelims, extending a résumé that still has only one loss.
Tsuruya improved to 12-1 overall and 3-1 in the UFC. Borjas fell to 11-6 and 2-5 inside the Octagon.
The finish looked like the rest of Tsuruya’s best work. He touched gloves, shot immediately, and turned the fight into a grappling match before Borjas could throw.
Borjas stuffed the first try at the fence, then could not keep the wrestling off him. Tsuruya rode a body lock to the mat, landed in half guard, and started a steady stream of body shots, elbows, and hammerfists.
When Borjas wall-walked, Tsuruya took the back, put both hooks in, trapped the left arm, and forced the tap. Referee Matt Wynne did not have a long decision to make.
The official stats tell the same story. Tsuruya landed 71 of 101 total strikes and 39 of 67 significant shots, went 2-for-4 on takedowns, and needed only one submission attempt.
Borjas landed 1 of 3 total strikes and zero significant strikes. He did not attempt a takedown or a submission.
That is a rough night for a striker who builds his wins with power. Borjas, a 28-year-old from Lima nicknamed “El Gallo Negro,” had 8 knockouts among 11 career victories and almost no submission offense of his own.
The Dana White’s Contender Series signee came in 2-4 in the UFC and looking for a first winning streak in the promotion. His last fight was a June unanimous decision over Andre Lima, a win that still came with a missed flyweight limit.
Tsuruya, 24, is the cleaner prospect. The Kashiwa, Chiba fighter trains at his father’s gym in Matsudo, came through Road to UFC, and had never been finished.
His only defeat is a unanimous decision to Joshua Van at UFC 313 in March 2025. Van is the UFC flyweight champion, which makes that blemish look different from a normal loss.
Tsuruya answered it in May with a first-round submission of Luis Gurule in Macau, then returned to 125 pounds in Shanghai. This was his fourth UFC appearance and his second straight trip to a Chinese venue.
He was a heavy favorite for a reason. CBS Sports listed him around -750, and the fight never left his terms long enough for Borjas to make it a kickboxing match.
A first-round choke does not put Tsuruya in a title fight. It does keep him in the conversation as a young flyweight who can wrestle ranked names and finish the ones who cannot get up.
The division still runs through Van. Until Tsuruya gets another look at that level, nights like this are how he stacks the case: control, ground strikes, back takes, and a tap before the round ends.
Borjas is now 2-5 in the UFC and sliding back into the lose-two, win-one pattern that has defined his run. He can still crack people on the feet. He has not shown he can survive this kind of wrestling for five minutes.
Tsuruya’s striking numbers were padded by ground-and-pound, and that is the point. Borjas never got to use the hands that produced most of his wins.
UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song continues in Shanghai, with Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong still ahead in the main event. Tsuruya leaves 3-1 in the UFC, still with only Van on the loss side of the ledger, and with another first-round submission on the tape.