Why this is the rookie
2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 is both Pettis's first card and the only Pettis card that a card database designates a rookie card: Collectibles.com's register lists it as '#98 RC'. It came out on 4 May 2011, a month before he had fought in the UFC, and shows him as the last WEC lightweight champion. The card dealers more often sell as the rookie, 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #218, is seven months younger and carries no such designation from any database — only seller listing titles built on its 'UFC Debut' styling.
Pettis's first trading card, from the 150-card Title Shot base set released 4 May 2011 — the product that folded the WEC roster into the main Topps UFC base run after the merger. Topps had already carried WEC fighters a year earlier, in the 'WEC Fighter' block of 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, but Pettis was not in it. #98 shipped a month before his UFC debut against Clay Guida, so it shows him as the reigning (and final) WEC lightweight champion rather than a UFC fighter. Every earlier 2010 MMA product checked — Topps Series 4, Main Event, Knockout and Leaf MMA — lists other WEC names but no Pettis.
Listings call 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #218 a 'Rookie RC' because it is a UFC Debut card; it is not his first card. Sellers also list the Title Shot #98 Gold, Silver and Bronze parallels as 'the rookie' when they are parallels of the same base card.
Identifying it
- Base card #98, between #97 Ben Rothwell and #99 Yushin Okami on the Title Shot checklist
- Base set runs #1–#150 and mixes UFC veterans, legends, debuting fighters and WEC fighters
- Parallel versions are named in brackets by SportsCardsPro: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Red and Diamond
What gets mistaken for it
| What you'll read | What's true |
|---|---|
| Pettis has a 2010 rookie card from his WEC run. | No Pettis entry appears in SportsCardsPro's set lists for 2010 Topps UFC Series 4, 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, 2010 Topps UFC Knockout or 2010 Leaf MMA, and Cardboard Connection's Series 4 checklist states he is not in it — even though those sets do carry other WEC fighters such as Ben Henderson and Anthony Njokuani. |
| 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot was the first Topps UFC product to include WEC fighters. | 2010 Topps UFC Main Event already carried a 'WEC Fighter' block — Urijah Faber is #144 in it, with WEC Fighter recorded as the subset on eBay's catalogue entry. Title Shot is the product that folded the WEC roster into the main Topps UFC base run after the merger. |
| The Gold or Silver #98 is 'the rookie'. | They are parallels of the same base card #98. |
Parallels
Card milestones
Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.
- Earliest licensed card2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 High confidence
- First MMA card2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 High confidence
- First UFC card2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 High confidence
- First certified autograph2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Fighter Autograph Relics #FAR-AP Probable
- Recognized rookie card2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 High confidence
The evidence behind each
- 2011Earliest licensed card — Cardboard Connection dates the product to 4 May 2011 and gives the 150-card base set. No Pettis entry appears in SportsCardsPro's set lists for 2010 Topps UFC Series 4, 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, 2010 Topps UFC Knockout or 2010 Leaf MMA, and a SportsCardsPro product search for Pettis in Main Event returns nothing, so no 2010 card competes with it.
- 2011First MMA card — No non-MMA Pettis card of any kind turned up in Collectibles.com's register or SportsCardsPro's product search.
- 2011First UFC card — Cardboard Connection's product page for 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot; Wikipedia for the 4 June 2011 UFC debut against Clay Guida.
- 2011First certified autograph — Cardboard Connection lists the 35-card Fighter Autograph Relics subset within Title Shot and the card appears in eBay's catalogue. No signed Pettis card from 2010 or earlier appears in any catalogue consulted. Whether Title Shot also carried a plain Pettis signature alongside the autographed relic has not been established.
- 2011Recognized rookie card — Collectibles.com's Pettis register lists the card as '2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 RC Anthony Pettis'. It is also his earliest card, so the designation and the chronology agree.
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.
Anthony Pettis's rookie card: 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 — Anthony Pettis.
2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 is both Pettis's first card and the only Pettis card a card database designates a rookie: Collectibles.com's register carries it as '#98 RC'. Cardboard Connection dates the product to 4 May 2011, a month before he had fought in the UFC, and it is the base set where Topps first carried WEC fighters, which is why his first card shows him as the last WEC lightweight champion. Nothing earlier exists: SportsCardsPro's set lists for 2010 Topps UFC Series 4, 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, 2010 Topps UFC Knockout and 2010 Leaf MMA contain no Pettis entry, and Cardboard Connection's 2010 Series 4 checklist does not include him. The designation is not printed on the card — an eBay seller checklist for the set marks its RC cards and does not mark #98, and SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No' for #98, for 2011 Finest UFC #49 and for 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #218, the card dealers more often sell as his rookie and which carries no designation from any database.
- SportsCardsProAnthony Pettis #98 — 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2011 Topps UFC Title Shot set list (Pettis #98 base plus Bronze, Diamond, Gold, Red, Silver), accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProAnthony Pettis #218 — 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth (rookie field: No; listings say 'UFC Debut' / 'Rookie RC'), accessed September 22, 2026
- 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Fighter Autograph Relics, accessed September 22, 2026
- 2010 Topps UFC (Series 4), accessed September 21, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2010 Topps UFC Main Event set list (no Pettis entry), accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2010 Topps UFC Knockout set list (no Pettis entry), accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2010 Leaf MMA checklist (100-card base, no Cyborg), accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Base / RC Cards pick list (#98 Anthony Pettis, unmarked), accessed September 22, 2026
2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98 — Anthony Pettis.
- SportsCardsProAnthony Pettis #98 — 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2011 Topps UFC Title Shot set list (Pettis #98 base plus Bronze, Diamond, Gold, Red, Silver), accessed September 22, 2026
- 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Fighter Autograph Relics, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Base / RC Cards pick list (#98 Anthony Pettis, unmarked), accessed September 22, 2026
Parallel serial numbers are not confirmed at card level: Cardboard Connection's product parallel list (Diamond 1/1, Red /8, Onyx /88, Gold) does not match SportsCardsPro's base-card parallel names (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Red, Diamond).
- SportsCardsProAnthony Pettis #98 — 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2011 Topps UFC Title Shot set list (Pettis #98 base plus Bronze, Diamond, Gold, Red, Silver), accessed September 22, 2026
- 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Fighter Autograph Relics, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Base / RC Cards pick list (#98 Anthony Pettis, unmarked), accessed September 22, 2026
Copies available
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
Go deeper
- The card record2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #98
- Anthony Pettis archiveKey cards and eras
- 2011 Topps UFC Title ShotSet record