Tatsuya Kawajiri
Firmino faced off against Hiroyuki Abe at his first Pride fight, "Pride Bushido 4" in July 2004, and won by using an arm triangle choke in the first round. Firmino then returned against Masakazu Imanari three months later at "Pride Bushido 5" at won by unanimous decision. After this early success, he lost his next two bouts (against countryman Luiz Azeredo and Tatsuya Kawajiri) by decision in 2005. In November 2006, Firmino took on Nobuhiro Obiya at "Pride Bushido 13" and won the fight by yet another unanimous decision.