UFC flyweight scrambles have been pure chaos lately, and Rei Tsuruya kept the division moving with the kind of squeeze job that makes everyone else check the brackets twice. Tsuruya tapped Kevin Borjas with a rear-naked choke at 4:14 of Round 1 at UFC Shanghai, turning a quick takedown-heavy start into another first-round finish.
Watch the official highlight below.
Tsuruya entered at 11-1 with a 2-1 UFC mark, while Borjas came in at 11-5 and 2-4 inside the Octagon. Once the fight hit the mat, though, those numbers started feeling less important than the position battle. Tsuruya shot early, drove Borjas into the fence, settled into half guard, and went to work with body shots, elbows, and enough ground-and-pound to keep Borjas stuck in survival mode.
UFC Shanghai Event Date, Venue And Broadcast
The bout took place on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at the Pudong Development Bank Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. UFC Shanghai streamed live in the United States on Paramount+, with the preliminary card beginning at 3 a.m. ET and the main card at 6 a.m. ET.
Official UFC coverage from the event:
Tsuruya Turns One Scramble Into A Tap
Borjas did manage to work back to his feet, but that escape came with a bill attached. Tsuruya slid behind him, dragged him down again, attacked the neck, and forced the tap before the opening round could even breathe. The UFC’s own highlight called it back-to-back Round 1 submissions for Tsuruya, which is a pretty loud way to announce that the kid is not just collecting minutes in there.
The win should push Tsuruya to 12-1 overall and gives him real heat again in a flyweight lane where creative submissions can flip a whole night sideways. Borjas falls into a rougher spot after another UFC setback, and this one was especially nasty because he never got much room to show offense before Tsuruya turned the fight into backpack season.
For Tsuruya, the timing matters. UFC Shanghai still has bigger names on top, but the prelim finish reel is where prospects can steal eyeballs before the marquee gets loud. After this, he is no longer just a solid Japanese prospect with a slick wrestling base. He is a finisher with two straight opening-round taps, and in a division where flyweight contenders are always one highlight away from a bigger conversation, that is the kind of work that sticks.
