The rookie case
2020 Topps UFC #93
The rookie card with the actual RC designation attached to it, and the one most dealers list as his rookie. It came out August 26, 2020, five months after Knockout #95, which is the whole of the rookie argument. It was also Topps' last flagship UFC base set before the licence moved to Panini, so it is the end of one era and his only appearance in it.
Pantoja's two 2020 cards carry different kinds of rookie claim. Topps' checklist for the flagship 2020 Topps UFC set, released 26 August 2020, marks card #93 'RC' — the designation appears on both Cardboard Connection's and Checklist Center's copies. MMA Rookies instead names 2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95, released 25 March 2020, his True Rookie Card because it came first. So the earlier card and the designated card are not the same card, and collectors split along that line.
SportsCardsPro's item-details field says 'Is Rookie Card: No' on both #95 and #93 while the sold listings on the same pages call them rookie cards — the same database-field quirk noted elsewhere in this archive, not a real disagreement.
- Earliest licensed card2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 High confidence
- First MMA card2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 High confidence
- First UFC card2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 High confidence
- First certified autograph2024 Topps Chrome UFC Main Event Autographs #MEA-APA Probable
- Recognized rookie card2020 Topps UFC #93 High confidence
The evidence behind each
- 2020Earliest licensed card — Cardboard Connection's 2020 Topps UFC Knockout checklist reads '95 Alexandre Pantoja - Flyweight' and dates the product 25 March 2020; Checklist Center's copy of the same checklist agrees. He appears in no checklist in 2017 Topps UFC Knockout or 2017 Topps UFC Chrome, and Collectibles.com's register places his card debut in 2020.
- 2020First MMA card — Same card — the earliest Pantoja card identified, in a UFC-licensed Topps product.
- 2020First UFC card — Cardboard Connection and Checklist Center checklists; nothing earlier appears on any list consulted despite his January 2017 Octagon debut.
- 2024First certified autograph — Checklist Insider's 2024 Topps Chrome UFC checklist lists 'MEA-APA Alexandre Pantoja' in the 18-card Main Event Autographs subset, and graded copies trade under that code. Pantoja appears in no autograph checklist in 2020 Topps UFC, 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, 2021 Panini Prizm UFC or 2022 Panini Chronicles UFC, and Cardboard Connection's 2022 Donruss UFC Signature Series checklist runs 1–100 with no Pantoja on it. It is filed as probable because no source has been found that rules out a signature in a Panini product between 2021 and 2023.
- 2020Recognized rookie card — Cardboard Connection's 2020 Topps UFC checklist reads '93 Alexandre Pantoja - Flyweight RC', and Checklist Center's independent copy of the same checklist reads the same. No RC marking appears anywhere in the 2020 Topps UFC Knockout checklist.
Key Pantoja cards
10 cards chosen for significance, not completeness; autographs and numbered cards follow below.
Card history
Pantoja beat Eric Shelton at UFC on Fox 23 on January 28, 2017 and then fought nine times before a card of him existed. The 2017 Topps Chrome, Knockout and Museum products and the 2019 Topps Chrome UFC set all passed him over, and Collectibles.com states flatly that he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2020'. There is no Pantoja prospect card, no TUF-era issue and nothing at all from the 2017-2019 stretch of Topps' first UFC licence.
Everything therefore begins in 2020, and the rookie is a two-card argument inside a single year. 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, released March 25, carries base #95, which MMA Rookies calls his True Rookie Card on release-date grounds; the 2020 Topps UFC flagship followed on August 26 with #93, and it is the flagship checklist that actually prints the 'RC' tag. Sellers use 'RC' for both and sources disagree on which is the rookie. Both are base-only cards — Knockout has no Pantoja autograph or relic — and the flagship was the last Topps UFC base set before the licence moved, so #93 with its Camo /25, Red /8 and Platinum 1/1 is also the end of an era.
Panini's licence opened with the Prizm UFC 'Debut Edition' on April 28, 2021, where Pantoja is #46 with a sixteen-step colour ladder ending at Black 1/1 and no autograph anywhere in the product. 2022 gave him Prizm #178 on March 25, with the First Off The Line shimmer tier on top of the usual run, and Donruss #43 on May 6. That Donruss number is a base card and nothing more: the product's Signature Series checklist runs 1 to 100 and has no Pantoja on it, which is exactly the mistake the shared number invites. He is absent from the autograph checklists in 2022 Panini Chronicles UFC too, so three Panini years produced base cards and no signature at all.
He took the flyweight title from Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023, three months after that year's Panini Prizm UFC had already shipped, and Panini's licence ran out before it produced a champion issue for him. Topps' return caught up instead: 2024 Topps Chrome UFC, March 20, 2024, puts the reigning champion at base #10, the low checklist position Topps reserves for titleholders, with an Allen & Ginter insert at #AAG-1 and Main Event Autographs #MEA-APA in the same product — his first certified autograph of any kind, more than four years after his first card, from an eighteen-card checklist that runs Refractor /150 down through Gold /50, Orange /25, Black /10 and Red /5 to a SuperFractor 1/1. The base refractor ladder runs Speckle /299 down through Red /5 to its own SuperFractor.
2025 Topps Chrome UFC, released June 27, 2025, has him at #188 alongside Joshua Van's rookie at #136, with the Chrome Veteran Autograph CVA-AP as the veteran counterpart to Van's rookie signature — the last autograph issued while Pantoja still held the belt, since Van took it in 26 seconds at UFC 323 on December 6. 2026 Topps Chrome UFC then moved him to base #40 and added the on-card Marks of Champions Autograph MOC-AP on May 8, 2026, a subset limited to titleholders and issued five months after the reign ended. That card honours the reign rather than the standing, and it is where his autograph run stands now.
Autographs
3 certified autographs in the archive.
Card eras
Pantoja beat Eric Shelton at UFC on Fox 23 on January 28, 2017 and fought nine times before a card of him existed. MMA Rookies lists nothing before 2020 and Collectibles.com states outright that he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2020', so the 2017 Topps Chrome/Knockout/Museum products and 2019 Topps Chrome UFC all passed him over.
2020 Topps UFC Knockout, released March 25, 2020, carries base #95 — MMA Rookies calls it his True Rookie Card. Five months later the 2020 Topps UFC flagship put him at #93 with an RC designation on the checklist. Both are base-only: Cardboard Connection's Knockout checklist shows no Pantoja autograph or relic in the product.
Panini's debut Prizm UFC (April 28, 2021) gave him #46 and the full Prizm colour ladder down to Black 1/1. 2022 brought Prizm #178 (March 25) and Donruss #43 (May 6). Neither year produced a signature: Pantoja is in no autograph checklist in 2021 Prizm, 2022 Chronicles or the 100-card 2022 Donruss Signature Series, so the Panini era leaves him with base cards only.
He took the flyweight title from Brandon Moreno by split decision at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023 — three months after 2023 Panini Prizm UFC had already shipped (April 28), so the belt arrived between releases and Panini's UFC licence ran out before it produced a proper champion issue.
2024 Topps Chrome UFC (March 20, 2024) put the reigning flyweight champion at base #10 — a low number, the way Topps signals a titleholder — with an Allen & Ginter insert AAG-1 and a Main Event Autograph in the same product. The refractor ladder runs Speckle /299 down through Red /5 to SuperFractor 1/1.
2025 Topps Chrome UFC (June 27) has him at #188 with a Chrome Veteran Autograph CVA-AP and a retail Fired Up insert FUP-3. He defended against Kai Kara-France at UFC 317 the next day, then lost the belt to Joshua Van in 26 seconds at UFC 323 on December 6, 2025 — a TKO after his arm gave out — so the CVA-AP is the last autograph issued while he was champion.
2026 Topps Chrome UFC (May 8, 2026) moves him to base #40 and adds the on-card Marks of Champions Autograph MOC-AP, a subset reserved for titleholders — issued after the belt was gone. He lost the rematch to Van by decision at UFC 331 on September 19, 2026.
Rookie parallels
Sets
Where Pantoja's key cards come from.
- 20202020 Topps UFC1 key card
- 20202020 Topps UFC Knockout1 key card
- 20212021 Panini Prizm UFC1 key card
- 20222022 Panini Prizm UFC1 key card
- 20222022 Donruss UFC1 key card
- 20242024 Topps Chrome UFC1 key card
- 20242024 Topps Chrome UFC Main Event Autographs1 key card
- 20252025 Topps Chrome UFC1 key card
- 20252025 Topps Chrome UFC Chrome Veteran Autographs1 key card
- 20262026 Topps Chrome UFC Marks of Champions Autographs1 key card
Buying & wanted
- 012020 Topps UFC #93 Camo /25, Red /8 or Platinum 1/1 — the scarce end of his designated rookie card
- 022020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 in the low parallels — Purple /25, Red /8 and the Gold 1/1 — his first card of any kind
- 032024 Topps Chrome UFC Main Event Autographs #MEA-APA in the numbered refractors — his first certified autograph, signed as champion
- 042026 Topps Chrome UFC Marks of Champions Autographs #MOC-AP, the on-card champion signature, in the numbered refractors
- 052025 Topps Chrome UFC Chrome Veteran Autographs #CVA-AP, the last autograph issued during the title reign (Gold /50, Orange /25, Black /10, Red /5)
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
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Sources & research Verified×3High confidence×10Probable×3
Every factual claim on this page, the evidence behind it, and an honest confidence level. Where sources disagree the disagreement is kept, not quietly resolved.
Alexandre Pantoja's rookie card: 2020 Topps UFC #93 — Alexandre Pantoja.
Two 2020 Topps cards compete and only one carries a rookie designation from the manufacturer. Cardboard Connection's checklist for the August 2020 flagship reads '93 Alexandre Pantoja - Flyweight RC', and the same checklist marks RC on other first-year fighters such as Dan Hooker and Zhang Weili; eBay's catalogue page for the card is titled '2020 Topps UFC - Alexandre Pantoja #93 (RC)' and SportsCardsPro carries the same set and number. The March 2020 Knockout checklist carries no RC marking on #95 or on any card in that product, on Cardboard Connection's copy or on Checklist Center's. MMA Rookies designates Knockout #95 the True Rookie on release-order grounds — Cardboard Connection dates Knockout to 25 March 2020 and the flagship to 26 August 2020 — which keeps the question live, but a designation printed in the manufacturer's own checklist is the stronger claim. Collectibles.com states he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2020', and nothing earlier appears in any published source despite his January 2017 UFC debut.
- MMA RookiesPantoja, Alexandre | RC vault, accessed September 22, 2026
- 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, accessed September 21, 2026
- Cardboard Connection2020 Topps UFC checklist, accessed September 21, 2026
- Collectibles.comAlexandre Pantoja Cards: Values, Rookies (lists 2021 Panini Prizm UFC #46), accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProAlexandre Pantoja #95 — 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 Purple /25 Alexandre Pantoja (Rookie Card) listing, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProAlexandre Pantoja #93 — 2020 Topps UFC, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2020 Topps UFC - Alexandre Pantoja #93 (RC) catalogue page, accessed September 22, 2026
- Checklist Center2020 Topps UFC Knockout checklist, accessed September 22, 2026
Pantoja beat Eric Shelton at UFC on Fox 23 on January 28, 2017 and then fought nine times before a card of him existed. The 2017 Topps Chrome, Knockout and Museum products and the 2019 Topps Chrome UFC set all passed him over, and Collectibles.com states flatly that he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2020'. There is no Pantoja prospect card, no TUF-era issue and nothing at all from the 2017-2019 stretch of Topps' first UFC licence.
Everything therefore begins in 2020, and the rookie is a two-card argument inside a single year. 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, released March 25, carries base #95, which MMA Rookies calls his True Rookie Card on release-date grounds; the 2020 Topps UFC flagship followed on August 26 with #93, and it is the flagship checklist that actually prints the 'RC' tag. Sellers use 'RC' for both and sources disagree on which is the rookie. Both are base-only cards — Knockout has no Pantoja autograph or relic — and the flagship was the last Topps UFC base set before the licence moved, so #93 with its Camo /25, Red /8 and Platinum 1/1 is also the end of an era.
Panini's licence opened with the Prizm UFC 'Debut Edition' on April 28, 2021, where Pantoja is #46 with a sixteen-step colour ladder ending at Black 1/1 and no autograph anywhere in the product. 2022 gave him Prizm #178 on March 25, with the First Off The Line shimmer tier on top of the usual run, and Donruss #43 on May 6. That Donruss number is a base card and nothing more: the product's Signature Series checklist runs 1 to 100 and has no Pantoja on it, which is exactly the mistake the shared number invites. He is absent from the autograph checklists in 2022 Panini Chronicles UFC too, so three Panini years produced base cards and no signature at all.
He took the flyweight title from Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023, three months after that year's Panini Prizm UFC had already shipped, and Panini's licence ran out before it produced a champion issue for him. Topps' return caught up instead: 2024 Topps Chrome UFC, March 20, 2024, puts the reigning champion at base #10, the low checklist position Topps reserves for titleholders, with an Allen & Ginter insert at #AAG-1 and Main Event Autographs #MEA-APA in the same product — his first certified autograph of any kind, more than four years after his first card, from an eighteen-card checklist that runs Refractor /150 down through Gold /50, Orange /25, Black /10 and Red /5 to a SuperFractor 1/1. The base refractor ladder runs Speckle /299 down through Red /5 to its own SuperFractor.
2025 Topps Chrome UFC, released June 27, 2025, has him at #188 alongside Joshua Van's rookie at #136, with the Chrome Veteran Autograph CVA-AP as the veteran counterpart to Van's rookie signature — the last autograph issued while Pantoja still held the belt, since Van took it in 26 seconds at UFC 323 on December 6. 2026 Topps Chrome UFC then moved him to base #40 and added the on-card Marks of Champions Autograph MOC-AP on May 8, 2026, a subset limited to titleholders and issued five months after the reign ended. That card honours the reign rather than the standing, and it is where his autograph run stands now.
2020 Topps UFC #93 — Alexandre Pantoja.
- Cardboard Connection2020 Topps UFC checklist, accessed September 21, 2026
- eBay2020 Topps UFC - Alexandre Pantoja #93 (RC) catalogue page, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProAlexandre Pantoja #93 — 2020 Topps UFC, accessed September 22, 2026
- MMA RookiesPantoja, Alexandre | RC vault, accessed September 22, 2026
2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 — Alexandre Pantoja.
- MMA RookiesPantoja, Alexandre | RC vault, accessed September 22, 2026
- 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, accessed September 21, 2026
- SportsCardsProAlexandre Pantoja #95 — 2020 Topps UFC Knockout, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 Purple /25 Alexandre Pantoja (Rookie Card) listing, accessed September 22, 2026
2021 Panini Prizm UFC #46 — Alexandre Pantoja.
2022 Panini Prizm UFC #178 — Alexandre Pantoja.
2022 Donruss UFC #43 — Alexandre Pantoja.
2024 Topps Chrome UFC #10 — Alexandre Pantoja.
2025 Topps Chrome UFC #188 — Alexandre Pantoja.
2025 Topps Chrome UFC Chrome Veteran Autographs #CVA-AP — Alexandre Pantoja.
2026 Topps Chrome UFC Marks of Champions Autographs #MOC-AP — Alexandre Pantoja.
2024 Topps Chrome UFC Main Event Autographs #MEA-APA — Alexandre Pantoja.