Some fighters have a rookie-card argument. Israel Adesanya doesn't. The Trading Card Database (TCDB) lists six Adesanya cards dated 2018. All six are card #42 from 2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection: the base card and five colour parallels. There is no other card to weigh it against.
2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection #42. It carries the Topps RC logo, TCDB flags it RC, and it is his only card from 2018. His 2019 Topps Chrome #57 is not a rookie.
The only card from his debut year
Adesanya made his UFC debut at UFC 221 on 11 February 2018, stopping Rob Wilkinson in the second round. Topps put him on a card that same year, in 2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection, which Cardboard Connection dates to 28 November 2018.
Card #42 has the RC logo printed lower right and a nameplate reading ISRAEL ADESANYA • MIDDLEWEIGHT. Topps' own Ripped blog presented it as his rookie card in August 2024. It noted that the back recaps his debut year, which brought wins over Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori and Brad Tavares. TCDB includes him on its 20-card rookie list for the set, alongside Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman and Sean O'Malley.
Not a cheap retail rookie
Museum Collection sat at the top of Topps' UFC range. Cardboard Connection lists a 50-card base set and a box that holds a single pack of eight cards, promising two autographs and one memorabilia card. The upshot is that this rookie came out of a pack where the base card was a by-product. That helps explain why his next few cards get more attention than their status deserves.
Cardboard Connection lists five base parallels: Copper, Gold /75, Sapphire /25, Ruby /8 and Emerald 1/1. The numbered four are straightforward.
The Copper question
Copper is the one to check. On TCDB's Adesanya page for 2018, the Copper #42 carries a serial flag of 159. Cardboard Connection lists Copper without any print run. We have not seen a Copper #42 in hand, so we treat the /159 as unconfirmed. If a listing says "Copper /159", look at the back of the card before you trust the number.
One year, one card number, six versions on TCDB. The rookie question is settled. The Copper parallel's numbering is still open.
What came next, and why it isn't the rookie
2019 is where the confusion starts, because that is when Adesanya reached Topps' better-known lines.
- 2019 Topps UFC Knockout #34: his first card in Knockout, released 8 May 2019, a month after he won the interim middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum. TCDB gives it no RC flag.
- 2019 Topps Chrome UFC #57: his first Chrome card, from a set Cardboard Connection dates to 11 September 2019. It is not on TCDB's 36-card rookie list for 2019 Topps Chrome UFC, and the card has no RC logo. Ripped singles out its Diamond Sparkle hot-box refractor.
- 2019 Topps UFC Museum Collection #28: his second-year Museum card.
Chrome #57 is the one most often sold as an "RC", because first Chrome cards often are rookies. This one isn't. By the time it came out, Adesanya's rookie had been on the market for about ten months.
The autographs and the eras after
His first autographs on TCDB are 2019 Knockout UFC Fire Autographs, a Gold 1/1 and a Red /8. 2020 filled things out: Knockout added Knockout Autographs #KA-IA and an autographed mat relic that Ripped lists at 25 copies, and flagship 2020 Topps UFC #75 arrived as well.
Then the licence changed hands. Panini's first UFC sets in 2021 gave him Prizm #120, a veteran card with no RC tag. When Topps came back, he was 2024 Topps Chrome UFC #81. None of these changes the rookie. The full list is in our Adesanya rookie guide.
What we still don't know
The print run of the unnumbered base #42 is unknown. The Copper parallel's numbering is unresolved: TCDB says 159, Cardboard Connection gives no number. We also can't say how many 2018 Museum Collection boxes were produced, and we won't guess.
A scan of the back of a Copper #42 would show whether it is serial-numbered. Send one in and we will credit you as the source.
Sources
- Trading Card DatabaseIsrael Adesanya 2018 cards
- Trading Card DatabaseRookies - 2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection
- Trading Card DatabaseRookies - 2019 Topps Chrome UFC
- Cardboard Connection2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection
- Cardboard Connection2019 Topps UFC Chrome Checklist
- Topps RippedBest Israel Adesanya Topps UFC Cards to Collect
