thousand years" On April 23, 2000, at K-1 The Millennium, Le Banner fought against Kyokushin World Open Karate Tournament 1999 champion Francisco Filho. Just 1 year before from this match, Filho had beat 1999 K-1 GP champion Ernesto Hoost by knockout. But Le Banner knocked out Filho unconscious with a left straight punch in the first round. This knock out is called "The biggest KO of this thousand years" (or the Millennium KO) by the ringside announcers and Japanese media. Le Banner's left arm and left punch have been called the "Golden Left" since this match. On July 30, Le Banner beat Mark Hunt, Nicholas Pettas and Ernesto Hoost, to become K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Nagoya tournament Champion. But he was not able to fight in K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Final due to illness from Infectious mononucleosis. On April 29, 2001, Le Banner won the K-1 World Grand Prix tournament by three first-round KOs, the fastest win in K-1 history in a total time of 4 minutes and 4 seconds in K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Osaka. On December 8, Le Banner lost to Mark Hunt by KO in K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final Quarter Finals. The match is one of the biggest upsets ever in K-1. After this event, Japanese combat sports magazine SRS-DX published a picture of the moment Hunt hit Le Banner's face with an elbow; however, this didn't change the match's result into disqualification. Rubber match against Hunt in Paris In 2002, Le Banner had begun to train with Stéphane Nikiéma. On May 25, 2002, Le Banner fought Mark Hunt at K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Paris in a rubber match. In the 2nd round, first Hunt was knocked down by Le Banner's counterpunch. Le Banner was also knocked down. In the last 5 seconds of the 2nd round Le Banner knocked down Hunt with a high kick, winning by TKO. K-1 World GP 2002 final On December 7, 2002, at K-1 World Grand Prix 2002, after defeating Musashi in the quarterfinals, and Mark Hunt in the semis, Le Banner faced three-time World Champion Ernesto Hoost in the tournament final. Following an evenly fought first two rounds, Hoost fractured Le Banner's left arm with three round kicks in the third round. This match was stopped by 3-knock down rule. Referee Nobuaki Kakuda was severely criticized that he didn't stop the