Rei Tsuruya kept his assessment simple after his return at UFC Macau. “It went perfect.”
It was hard to argue. Tsuruya needed a composed, convincing response after more than a year away from competition, and he delivered one quickly.
The 23-year-old Japanese flyweight, a Road to UFC tournament winner, submitted Luis Gurule with a rear-naked choke at 3:19 of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night: Song vs Figueiredo in Macau.
Rei Tsuruya made his return count quickly
The result mattered because of the circumstances as much as the finish itself.
Tsuruya was coming back from a long layoff. That can make even a winnable fight awkward, especially for a young fighter still trying to build momentum inside the UFC.
There was little sign of that uncertainty here. Tsuruya appeared settled early, found his way into the contest, and then moved the fight towards his clearest strength.
Once the bout became a grappling exchange, Gurule struggled to create space. Tsuruya took the back, secured the choke, and ended the fight before the opening round reached its final minute.
Tsuruya remains a flyweight prospect with substance
This win should still be kept in proportion. It does not automatically change the shape of the flyweight division or place Tsuruya near the rankings.
What it does offer is a useful piece of evidence. Tsuruya still looks calm, efficient and dangerous when he can dictate where the fight takes place.
Gurule, a Contender Series graduate, represented a credible return test. Tsuruya handled it with the kind of control that makes a comeback performance feel meaningful rather than merely routine.
That is why the result was important for the UFC as well as Tsuruya. It showed that his time away had not stripped away the qualities that made him worth tracking in the first place.
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