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True rookie
2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29 Aljamain Sterling — front
#29
Rookie card guide

Aljamain Sterling
Rookie Card

Which card is the rookie, how to tell it, and what gets mistaken for it.

  • The answer2015 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 rookie

Three Topps base cards carry Sterling in his rookie year, and 2015 Topps UFC Knockout #29 is the first of them. MMA Rookies names it his True Rookie Card and files Champions #54 and Chronicles #227 beneath it, and Cardboard Connection's release dates put them in that order: Knockout in April 2015, Champions on 28 October 2015 and Chronicles on 3 February 2016. Collectibles.com's register independently places his rookie year at 2015. What cannot be shown is a printed rookie logo — none of the three Topps checklists marks any card RC — so the pick rests on release order plus MMA Rookies' designation.

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.

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
Mat
1/1
Probable
Red
/8
Verified
Gold
/99
Verified
Silver
/199
Verified

Card milestones

Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.

The evidence behind each
  • 2015Earliest licensed card — Cardboard Connection's 2015 Topps UFC Knockout checklist carries him at #29 in the 100-card base set; he appears in none of the checklists for 2014 Topps UFC Champions (17 September 2014) or 2014 Topps UFC Bloodlines (17 December 2014), the products that bracket his February 2014 UFC debut.
  • 2015First MMA card — Same card — the earliest Sterling card identified, in a UFC-licensed Topps product.
  • 2015First UFC card — Cardboard Connection checklist; MMA Rookies lists nothing earlier.
  • 2015First certified autograph — Cardboard Connection lists 'FA-AST Aljamain Sterling' in the 73-card Fighter Autographs checklist, with Red /8 and Platinum 1/1 parallels. He appears in none of the twelve autograph checklists in 2015 Topps UFC Knockout, where he is a base card only.
  • 2015Recognized rookie card — MMA Rookies names it his True Rookie Card, with 2015 Topps UFC Champions #54 and 2015 Topps UFC Chronicles #227 listed as other rookies; Collectibles.com's register states he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2015'; Cardboard Connection's release dates put Knockout first of the three.

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 confirms whether an RC logo is printed on the card.

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