Rei Tsuruya Faces Luis Gurule in Macau Prelims — Road To Ufc Season 5

road to ufc season 5 opened in Macau with Rei Tsuruya against Luis Gurule on the UFC Fight Night: Song vs Figueiredo prelims. The card returned to Galaxy Arena with a 4am ET start for prelims and a 7am ET main card.

Macau Prelims Open Early

Tsuruya arrived as the Road to UFC Season 2 flyweight tournament winner, which put a clear spotlight on his fight with Gurule before the main card began. Gurule, meanwhile, made his second walk to the Octagon in just 14 days.

The prelims also included Loma Lookboonmee against Jaqueline Amorim at strawweight and Zhu Kangjie taking on short-notice opponent Rodrigo Vera at featherweight. Angela Hill welcomed UFC newcomer Jingnan Xiong to the Octagon, another of the card’s newcomer-driven matchups.

Rei Tsuruya And Luis Gurule

Tsuruya versus Gurule sat inside a prelim slate built around movement and opportunity. YiSak Lee met Dana White’s Contender Series grad Luis Felipe Dias in the featured prelim, with both fighters making their UFC debut on the card.

Gurule’s quick turnaround stood out on a night that mixed established names with first-timers. Aoriqileng returned after a 20 second knockout last October to face Cody Haddon, while Ding Meng chased his 29th professional KO against José Souza.

Song Yadong And Figueiredo

The prelims fed into a main event built around rank and experience, with No. 5 bantamweight contender Song Yadong facing former two-time UFC champion and No. 7 ranked bantamweight Deiveson Figueiredo. That gave the Macau card a higher-profile top end while the opening fights handled the tournament and newcomer stories.

For readers following the UFC Macau lineup, Tsuruya’s placement on the prelims is the key marker: a Road to UFC winner back on a UFC Fight Night stage in front of a card shaped by debutants, short-notice replacements, and a fast return from Gurule. The rest of the night belonged to the main card clock, but the prelims set the tone early at Galaxy Arena.