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Working pick#29
Rookie research

Aljamain Sterling
Rookie Card Case

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

  • Working pick2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29
  • SubjectAljamain Sterling
  • Year2015
  • ManufacturerTopps
  • ConfidenceHigh confidence
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
Verified×1High confidence×1Uncertain×1View sources & research

Why this is the working pick

MMA Rookies names 2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29 his True Rookie Card and lists 2015 Topps UFC Champions #54 and 2015 Topps UFC Chronicles #227 as the other rookies. Release dates back that order up: Cardboard Connection dates Knockout to 22 April 2015, Champions to 28 October 2015 and Chronicles to 3 February 2016, so Knockout is the first Sterling card of any kind. Nothing earlier exists — Cardboard Connection's checklists for 2014 Topps UFC Knockout and 2014 Topps UFC Champions have no Sterling line anywhere despite his February 2014 UFC debut, and no pre-UFC regional or non-MMA issue surfaced. SportsCardsPro confirms the number and the Silver /199, Gold /99 and Red /8 parallels.

Sterling's first card, from a 100-card set that Topps released on 22 April 2015 after skipping him entirely in 2014. The parallel structure is unusually short for a Topps UFC product of this era — Silver /199, Gold /99, Red /8 and a 1/1 Mat card, with nothing between /99 and /8 — so the Red is the card serious Sterling collectors chase. He has no autograph in the product at all, despite a 44-card Knockout Autographs checklist.

The dispute

Which of the three 2015 base cards collectors call 'the' rookie is not settled. MMA Rookies picks Knockout #29 as the True Rookie and that matches the release order, but marketplace listings most often attach the RC tag to Chronicles #227 (Beckett marketplace item title '2015 Topps UFC Chronicles #227 Aljamain Sterling RC'; a COMC listing for the Black and White /188 parallel of the same card), while collectors.com titles the Champions Silver parallel a 'Rookie Year' card. SportsCardsPro's data panel answers 'No' to rookie card on all three (#29, #54 and #227), which is a data gap rather than a third opinion. Separately, no reachable source this research confirmed whether the 2015 Topps UFC products printed an RC logo on the card face, so the pick rests on release order plus MMA Rookies' designation rather than on a logo.

Commonly misidentified

Because all three 2015 base cards exist, a listing that says only 'Aljamain Sterling rookie' without naming the product is ambiguous between Knockout #29, Champions #54 and Chronicles #227 — three different cards from three different Topps sets, at three different numbers. Card #54 is also reused for other fighters in other products, so the year and brand always have to be read.

Identifying it

  • Card #29 in the 100-card base set, checklist line 'Aljamain Sterling'
  • Parallel colour is the only way to tell the versions apart: Silver /199, Gold /99, Red /8, Mat 1/1; the unnumbered card is the base
  • Not to be confused with 2014 Topps UFC Knockout, a different 100-card set that contains no Sterling card at all

What gets mistaken for it

What you'll readWhat's true
2015 Topps UFC Chronicles #227 is his rookie card because listings tag it RC.Chronicles is 2015-branded but did not ship until 3 February 2016, nine months after Knockout #29.
There is a Sterling autograph in 2015 Topps UFC Knockout.Cardboard Connection's Knockout Autographs checklist (44 cards) does not include him; his first signature is in 2015 Topps UFC Champions.

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Silver
/199
Verified
Gold
/99
Verified
Red
/8
Verified
Mat
1/1
Probable

Grading & population

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

Sources & research Verified×1High confidence×1Uncertain×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

Aljamain Sterling's rookie card: 2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29 — Aljamain Sterling.

MMA Rookies names 2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29 his True Rookie Card and lists 2015 Topps UFC Champions #54 and 2015 Topps UFC Chronicles #227 as the other rookies. Release dates back that order up: Cardboard Connection dates Knockout to 22 April 2015, Champions to 28 October 2015 and Chronicles to 3 February 2016, so Knockout is the first Sterling card of any kind. Nothing earlier exists — Cardboard Connection's checklists for 2014 Topps UFC Knockout and 2014 Topps UFC Champions have no Sterling line anywhere despite his February 2014 UFC debut, and no pre-UFC regional or non-MMA issue surfaced. SportsCardsPro confirms the number and the Silver /199, Gold /99 and Red /8 parallels.

Verified

2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29 — Aljamain Sterling.

Uncertain

SportsCardsPro's data panel for this card answers 'No' to rookie card, while MMA Rookies calls it his True Rookie Card. No source reached this research could confirm whether an RC logo is printed on the card.

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