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Working pick#95
Rookie research

Alexandre Pantoja
Rookie Card Case

The candidates, the evidence for each, and which card FightCardboard treats as the working pick.

  • Working pick2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95
  • SubjectAlexandre Pantoja
  • Year2020
  • ManufacturerTopps
  • ConfidenceHigh confidence
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
High confidence×2Uncertain×1View sources & research

Why this is the working pick

MMA Rookies names '2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 Alexandre Pantoja' his True Rookie Card and lists '2020 Topps UFC #93' as the other rookie card. Release dates settle the order: Cardboard Connection dates 2020 Topps UFC Knockout to March 25, 2020 and the 2020 Topps UFC flagship to August 26, 2020, so Knockout #95 is the earlier of the two by five months. SportsCardsPro independently confirms both the set and the number. Nothing earlier exists in any source reached this research — Collectibles.com states he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2020' despite his January 2017 UFC debut, so the 2017–2019 Topps UFC products contain no Pantoja card.

The earliest Alexandre Pantoja card that any source reached this research records, issued three years and nine fights into his UFC run. Knockout is a small, hit-heavy product — Cardboard Connection describes four autographs and four relics per box, all numbered /200 or less — so the base cards were printed in far smaller quantity than a flagship base card, and the parallel ladder tops out at a Gold 1/1. He has no autograph or relic in the product.

The dispute

Which of the two 2020 cards is 'the' rookie is a genuine split. MMA Rookies picks Knockout #95 (earlier release); Cardboard Connection's printed-RC marking sits on the flagship #93 instead. Sellers use 'RC' for both. TCDB, which would normally settle an RC flag, is not reachable.

Commonly misidentified

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.

Identifying it

  • Card #95, flyweight
  • Base card only — Pantoja has no autograph, relic or insert in 2020 Topps UFC Knockout per Cardboard Connection's checklist
  • Parallel colour identifies the print run: Blue /75, Purple /25, Red /8, Gold 1/1; Green is unnumbered
  • Do not confuse with 2025 Topps Knockout UFC, a different product from the later Topps licence

What gets mistaken for it

What you'll readWhat's true
2020 Topps UFC Knockout is a 2025-era Topps product.It is from the first Topps UFC licence and shipped March 25, 2020. '2025 Topps Knockout UFC' is a separate, later product.

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Green
—
High confidence
Blue
/75
High confidence
Purple
/25
Verified
Red
/8
High confidence
Gold
1/1
High confidence

Grading & population

Population figures will be taken directly from the grading companies and dated when they are. None are shown yet.

Sources & research High confidence×2Uncertain×1

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.

High confidence

Alexandre Pantoja's rookie card: 2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 — Alexandre Pantoja.

MMA Rookies names '2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 Alexandre Pantoja' his True Rookie Card and lists '2020 Topps UFC #93' as the other rookie card. Release dates settle the order: Cardboard Connection dates 2020 Topps UFC Knockout to March 25, 2020 and the 2020 Topps UFC flagship to August 26, 2020, so Knockout #95 is the earlier of the two by five months. SportsCardsPro independently confirms both the set and the number. Nothing earlier exists in any source reached this research — Collectibles.com states he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2020' despite his January 2017 UFC debut, so the 2017–2019 Topps UFC products contain no Pantoja card.

High confidence

2020 Topps UFC Knockout #95 — Alexandre Pantoja.

Uncertain

Rookie status: MMA Rookies calls it the True Rookie Card; Cardboard Connection prints the RC tag on the 2020 Topps UFC flagship #93 rather than here. Both are sold as rookies. Base count also differs between sources — Cardboard Connection says 100, this archive's existing set record says 99.

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