Shooto and Pancrase Akihiro Gono began fighting
mixed martial arts in 1994, competing in the Lumax Cup tournaments as a
Sambo and
Karate representative. He got a win over
Kazunari Murakami via head kick, but lost to him in their rematch the next year. Gono originally debuted in
Fighting Network Rings's undercard, but he moved to
Shooto after the Lumax Cup. His run there was uneventful, although he drew
Jutaro Nakao and led
Matt Hughes to a decision in his first years. 2000 would be his breakout year, winning against veteran
Masanori Suda, against
Ivan Salaverry via spinning kick and drawing with
Murilo "Ninja" Rua. Gono left Shooto for
Pancrase in 2001 and became a member of
Sanae Kikuta's
Grabaka team. He again showed improvement, beating twice renowned
Keiichiro Yamamiya and
Chris Haseman and having a spirited match with
Yuki Kondo, as well as a draw with
Chael Sonnen. He stopped fighting for Pancrase in 2005 in order to focus in
PRIDE Fighting Championships, though still as a Grabaka member.
PRIDE Fighting Championships He began fighting in PRIDE Bushido with
Bushido 2 in 2004, facing Murilo's brother
Maurício "Shogun" Rua. Gono avoided Rua's first flurries with an elusive style, throwing Rua to the mat twice, but he was knocked out via punches and kicks when Rua finally caught him. However, Akihiro recovered from his defeat at his next event, facing
Gracie family member Rodrigo Gracie. The match was heated, as Rodrigo had submitted Gono's fellow shooter
Hayato Sakurai in his debut while Gono had defeated Cesar Gracie's student
Tim McKenzie back in Pancrase. During the match, Gono traded strikes with Gracie and was taken down and pressed at the first round, but he came back at the second, stopping takedowns and capitalizing with strikes, including a head stomp which bloodied Gracie. In September 2005, Akihiro took part in the PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix. He became controversial for criticizing
Ryo Chonan and
Masanori Suda's performances and right to fight in the tournament, somewhat they called off on him back. At the first round, Gono won an upset over
Daniel Acacio, showing one more time his ability to avoid damage in stand-up and counterattack. The same night, at the second round, he faced
Dan Henderson, suffering an accidental headbutt before losing the match by KO. In 2006, Gono returned to PRIDE, this time playing a new character, DJ Gozma, a parody of Japanese musician
DJ OZMA. His entrances involved Gono wearing a vintage suit, including shoes and an orange wig, and accompanied by oddly-dressed male dancers while the song age♂age♂EVERY☆Night by DJ OZMA played in the background. Also, when the fighters were introduced in the ring, Gono would drop his suit's pants to reveal zebra stripped fighting briefs. He participated in the next edition of the Welterweight Grand Prix, defeating Cuban Olympic judoka
Hector Lombard on the first round. Characteristically, Gono avoided the damage from Lombard's aggressive initial combinations and countered him with hard punches, keeping his hands unorthodoxly low and throwing spinning backfists. His next round match would be against
Gegard Mousasi, which he won again, deflecting his attacks and working an armbar for the tap out. However, Gono was eliminated at the semifinals by
Denis Kang. Gono's last apparition in Pride was at Shockwave 2006, fighting a revenge match with
Yuki Kondo which came from their Pancrase days. Despite injuring his hand earlier in the match, Gono won the match by unanimous decision.
Ultimate Fighting Championship Gono defeated
Tamdan McCrory at
UFC 78, by
submission due to an
Armbar at 3:19 of the second round. It was reported (first by Dave Meltzer) that he came out to his usual entrance with his DJ GOZMA persona. Gono then took on
Dan Hardy at
UFC 89, but suffered defeat via split decision. Gono was left swollen and bloodied by several of Hardy's left hooks. Gono rocked Hardy on more than one occasion. In the third round Gono pushed Hardy to the canvas, and subsequently landed an illegal knee to the face of the downed fighter.
Bellator and first retirement After losing to
Michael Chandler at
Bellator 67 on May 4, 2012, Gono announced his first retirement from
MMA.
Return to MMA Just under a year after he announced his retirement, Gono returned to MMA when he faced
Taisuke Okuno at DEEP: 62nd Impact on April 26, 2013. He lost the fight by KO. Gono then fought to a draw against Yuki Okano at DEEP – Cage Impact 2013 on November 24, 2013.
Training and fighting in Brazil After training for months in Brazil at Oxygym in the city of
Gramado, Gono back to action facing Brazilian prospect Eduardo Garvon at The Hill Fighters 1 in his Brazilian home-town city of
Gramado. Gono had problems in the standup fight against the taller Brazilian, but seconds away for the end of the fight, Gono submitted Garvon via technical submission (arm-triangle choke). He won his second fight in Brazil at The Hill Fighters 2 against André de Jesus via split decision. ==Kickboxing==