|
AKIHIRO GONO
Height 5'9 (175cm)
Weight 183lbs (83kg)
Born October 7, 1974
Town of birth Higashikurume, Tokyo, Japan
Team/Association Team Grabaka
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 27
By knockout 7
By submission 5
Losses 12
Draws 7
Akihiro Gono (born October 7, 1974 in Tokyo, Japan; alternatively transliterated Akhiro Gouno) is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He currently fights as a middleweight in the UFC. He is best known for his clever and deceptive fighting style, and for his flashy ring entrances. His fighting style is characterized by skillfully avoiding strikes, using fast counter punches and generallygetting the opponent to fight his way. He is nicknamed the " Magic Man"[citations needed] for his ability to pull out bizarre submissions often when it looks like he has nothing available.
Akihiro Gono began fighting mixed martial arts in 1994, beginning with the Lumax Cup: Tournament of Japan '94. He would go on to fight in the Shooto organization, as well as Pancrase. He began fighting in Pride Bushido with Bushido 2 in 2004.
Gono holds wins over such fighters as Yuki Kondo, Ivan Salaverry, Crosley Gracie, Daniel Acacio, and Dae Won Kim. He has fought many tough opponents, with losses to such fighters as Mauricio Rua, Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes, and Yuki Kondo.
Gono began making his ring entrances in Pride FC more elaborate in 2006 with the creation of a character, DJ Gozma (a parody of Japanese musician DJ OZMA). The entrances have involved Gono wearing a vintage suit, including shoes, an orange wig, and accompanied by oddly dressed male dancers while the song age♂age♂EVERY☆Night by DJ OZMA plays in the background. Also, when the fighters are introduced in the ring, Gono drops his suit's pants to reveal zebra stripped fighting briefs. Gono's sense of humor is clearly at play in these entrances. Gono's last fight was a split decision victory over PRIDE and Pancrase veteran Yuki Kondo at PRIDE Shockwave 2006.
Gono recently signed with the UFC for a four fight deal. He will fight Tamdan McCrory at UFC 78.
Source: Wikipedia
|
