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 Maurício 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.