Akihiro Gono

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 Pancrase
4 PRIDE FC
5 UFC Career
6 Mixed martial arts record
7 Gallery
8 External links

Profile

Akihiro "The Japanese Sensation" Gono (born October 7, 1974) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who fights out of Team Grabaka. He is a veteran of Shooto, Pancrase, PRIDE Fighting Championships and the UFC.

He stands 5 ft. 7 in. (170 cm) tall and currently fights as a welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Akihiro Gono made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the Lumax Cup - Tournament of J '94 on April 23, 1994 against Yasunori Okuda. He lost via submission (toe hold) at 1.51 of round 1.

Gono fought 22 times from April of '94 to May of 2001 with the majority of those bouts coming in the Shooto organization. He went 10-8-4 in that time against a number of future prominent MMA names. In the seven year stretch he defeated the likes of Andy Wang and Ivan Salaverry, lossed to the likes of Egan Inoue and Matt Hughes while drawing with the likes of Murilo Rua.

Pancrase

Gono made his Pancrase debut in June of 2001, defeating Daisuke Watanabe via TKO (cut) at .52 of round 2.

Gono fought 12 more times in Pancrase with his last fight taking place in November of 2004. During his time in Pancrase he went 10-1-2 with his only loss being to UFC light heavyweight title challenger, Yuki Kondo.

PRIDE FC

Gono made his debut for the PRIDE Fighting Championships in February of 2002 at PRIDE - Bushido 2 against Mauricio Rua. His debut was unsuccessful as Shogun scored the TKO victory at 9.05 of round 1.

He would return to PRIDE at PRIDE - Bushido 7 against undefeated Gracie prospect, Crosley Gracie. Gono scored a decision victory against Crosley to notch his first PRIDE victory.

At PRIDE - Bushido 9, Gono participated in PRIDE's first ever, 8-man welterweight tournament. The tournament was seperated over two events, with the first two rounds taking place at Bushido 9. The winner of the tournament would be crowned PRIDE's first ever welterweight champion.

Gono faced and defeated Daniel Acacio via decision in the quarter final stage but was knocked out later that night in the semi-final stage by eventual tournament winner, Dan Henderson.

After bouncing back from the KO loss to Henderson at PRIDE - Bushido 10 with an armbar victory over Dae Won Kim, Gono entered the 16-man welterweight tournament which began at PRIDE - Bushido 11.

In the opening round, Gono faced Cuban/Australian product, Hector Lombard. Gono scored a unanimous decision victory over Lombard to advance to the quarter finals at PRIDE - Bushido 12. In the quarter final stage, Gono defeated future DREAM middleweight tournament champion, Gegard Mousasi via armbar submission in the second round to earn a place in the final four at PRIDE - Bushido 13.

Gono was eliminated in the semi-final stage of the welterweight tournament at Bushido 13 by eventual tournament champion, Denis Kang via unanimous decision.

Gono's last fight in PRIDE came at PRIDE - Shockwave 2006 in a rematch with Yuki Kondo. Gono earned a split decision victory after two rounds.

UFC Career

Gono made his UFC debut at UFC 78 against welterweight prospect, Tamdan McCrory. Gono looked to be getting outworked on his feet by McCrory in the first round but stormed back in the second round pulling off an armbar midway through the second round to earn the victory. The submission earned Gono his first UFC victory and the submission of the night bonus.

Gono was scheduled to face Jon Fitch at UFC 82 but had to withdraw from the bout due to a hand injury. Gono made his return at UFC 89 against British fighter, Dan Hardy. After an awesome walk-in Gono fought hard but came up a little short, losing via split decision.

Mixed martial arts record

**Professional Breakdown**
51 matches	29 wins	15 losses
By knockout	7	4
By submission	7	4
By decision	14	6
Draws	7

*He has won one fight via disqualification

Record

Result	Opponent	Method	Event Title	Date	Round	Time	Notes

Loss	Dan Hornbuckle	KO (Head Kick)	Sengoku: Ninth Battle	8/02/2009	3	2:50	-
Loss	Jon Fitch	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2	1/31/2009	3	5:00	-
Loss	Dan Hardy	Decision (Split)	UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben	10/18/2008	3	5:00	-
Win	Tamdan McCrory	Submission (Armbar)	UFC 78: Validation	11/17/2007	2	3:19	UFC debut; Won Submission of the Night Honors
Win	Yuki Kondo	Decision (Split)	PRIDE: Shockwave 2006	12/31/2006	2	5:00	-
Loss	Denis Kang	Decision (Unanimous)	PRIDE: Bushido 13	11/05/2006	2	5:00	-
Win	Gegard Mousasi	Submission (Armbar)	PRIDE: Bushido 12	8/26/2006	2	4:24	-
Win	Hector Lombard	Decision (Unanimous)	PRIDE: Bushido 11	6/04/2006	2	5:00	-
Win	Dae Won Kim	Submission (Armbar)	PRIDE: Bushido 10	4/02/2006	1	9:00	-
Loss	Dan Henderson	KO (Punch)	PRIDE: Bushido 9	9/25/2005	1	7:58	-
Win	Daniel Acacio	Decision (Unanimous)	PRIDE: Bushido 9	9/25/2005	2	5:00	-
Win	Crosley Gracie	Decision (Unanimous)	PRIDE: Bushido 7	5/22/2005	2	5:00	-
Win	Tim McKenzie	TKO (Punches)	Pancrase: Brave 10	11/07/2004	2	2:53	-
Win	Tsuyoshi Kurihara	KO (Punch)	Pancrase: Brave 6	6/22/2004	1	2:15	-
Loss	Mauricio Rua	TKO (Soccer Kicks)	PRIDE Bushido 2	2/15/2004	1	9:04	-
Win	Nilson de Castro	Decision (Unanimous)	Pancrase: Hybrid 10	11/30/2003	3	5:00	-
Win	Daisuke Watanabe	KO (Punch)	Pancrase: Hybrid 9	10/31/2003	2	3:49	-
Win	Nilson de Castro	DQ (Groin Strike)	Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show	8/31/2003	1	0:29	-
Win	Flavio Luiz Moura	Decision (Majority)	Pancrase: Hybrid 5	5/18/2003	2	5:00	-
Win	Chris Haseman	Decision (Majority)	ZST 2: The Battle Field 2	3/09/2003	3	5:00	-
Draw	Chael Sonnen	Draw	Pancrase: Hybrid 2	2/16/2003	2	5:00	-
Win	Keiichiro Yamamiya	TKO (Punches)	Pancrase: Spirit 9	12/21/2002	3	3:49	-
Draw	Osami Shibuya	Draw	Pancrase: Spirit 6	8/25/2002	3	5:00	-
Win	Kousei Kubota	Decision (Unanimous)	Pancrase: Spirit 4	5/11/2002	3	5:00	-
Loss	Yuki Kondo	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	Pancrase: Proof 7	12/01/2001	3	0:52	-
Win	Keiichiro Yamamiya	Decision (Unanimous)	Pancrase: Proof 6	10/30/2001	3	5:00	-
Draw	Dustin Denes	Draw	DEEP: 2nd Impact	8/18/2001	3	5:00	-
Win	Daisuke Watanabe	TKO (Cut)	Pancrase: Proof 4	6/26/2001	2	0:52	-
Draw	Murilo Rua	Draw	Shooto: To the Top 4	5/01/2001	3	5:00	-
Win	Ivan Salaverry	KO (Spinning Back Kick)	Shooto: To the Top 1	1/19/2001	1	3:06	-
Win	Masanori Suda	Decision (Unanimous)	Shooto: R.E.A.D. 12	11/12/2000	3	5:00	-
Win	Andy Wang	Decision (Unanimous)	Shooto: R.E.A.D. 5	5/22/2000	3	5:00	-
Draw	Larry Papadopoulos	Draw	Shooto: R.E.A.D. 1	1/14/2000	3	5:00	-
Loss	Lance Gibson	Decision (Majority)	SB 13: SuperBrawl 13	9/07/1999	3	5:00	-
Loss	Matt Hughes	Decision (Unanimous)	Shooto: 10th Anniversary Event	5/29/1999	3	5:00	-
Draw	Marcos da Silva	Draw	Shooto: Devilock Fighters	1/15/1999	3	5:00	-
Win	Adriano de Souza	Submission (Armbar)	Shooto: Las Grandes Viajes 6	11/27/1998	1	2:46	-
Win	Matt Rocca	Submission (Armbar)	Shooto: Shoot the Shooto XX	4/26/1998	1	3:12	-
Loss	Larry Papadopoulos	Decision (Split)	Shooto: Reconquista 4	10/12/1997	3	5:00	-
Draw	Jutaro Nakao	Draw	Shooto: GIG	6/25/1997	3	5:00	-
Win	Tsunemichi Nagano	Decision (Unanimous)	Daidojuku: WARS 4	3/11/1997	5	3:00	-
Win	Masato Fujiwara	Decision (Unanimous)	Shooto: Reconquista 1	1/18/1997	4	3:00	-
Loss	Kazuhiro Kusayanagi	Submission (Armbar)	Shooto: Let's Get Lost	10/04/1996	4	2:52	-
Win	Masanori Suda	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Shooto: Free Fight Kawasaki	7/28/1996	4	0:33	-
Loss	Todd Bjornethun	Submission (Armbar)	Shooto: Vale Tudo Junction 3	5/07/1996	3	1:12	-
Loss	Kazunari Murakami	Decision	Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '96	3/30/1996	2	3:00	-
Win	Yasushi Warita	Submission (Achilles Lock)	Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '96	3/30/1996	1	0:54	-
Win	Tatsuharu Doi	Decision (Majority)	Daidojuku: WARS 3	2/17/1996	2	3:00	-
Loss	Egan Inoue	Submission (Armbar)	Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '95	10/13/1995	1	1:33	-
Win	Kazunari Murakami	KO (Kick)	Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '95	10/13/1995	1	2:25	-
Loss	Yasunori Okuda	Submission (Toe Hold)	Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '94	4/23/1994	1	1:51	-