Collector profile “Cardio Cain”

Cain Velasquez

Velasquez's rookie is 2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #82, a two-man 'UFC Debut' card of his TKO of Brad Morris. Round 2 #61 is also RC-flagged. He didn't sign until September 2010, when Leaf MMA and Topps Series 4 came out two days apart, a month before he took Brock Lesnar's title. Since then his signed cards have run from 2011 Finest to Panini's 2021 legends autographs.

2009Rookie year

#82Rookie card

8Key cards

UFC debutApril 19, 2008 · UFC 83
DivisionsHeavyweight
StatusRetired · UFC (as of Sept 2026)
FromSalinas, California

Rookie card

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #82 Cain Velasquez / Brad Morris — front

#82

The rookie

#82

Rookie card

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #82

Velasquez's first card: a two-man 'UFC Debut' card of his first-round TKO of Brad Morris at UFC 83 (19 April 2008). It came out more than a year and a half before he won the title. SportsCardsPro files it as 'Brad Morris, Cain Velasquez', which is worth knowing when searching.

Commonly misidentified

Round 2 #61 is often sold as 'the' rookie. It is RC-flagged but later. Because SportsCardsPro files #82 as 'Brad Morris, Cain Velasquez', searches for 'Velasquez #82' can miss it. His 2010 autographs (Leaf AU-CV1, Topps FA-CV) are sometimes called 'rookie autos', but they came a year after his rookie cards.

High confidence×1View sources & research

Rookie card guide Card record

Key Velasquez cards

8 cards chosen for significance, not completeness; autographs and numbered cards follow below.

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #VD18

2009 Topps UFC Round 2 #61 Cain Velasquez — front

2009 Topps UFC Round 2 #61 Rookie

2021 Panini Select UFC #28

Autographs

4 certified autographs in the archive.

2010Leaf MMA #AU-CV1 Auto

2010 Topps UFC (Series 4) #FA-CV Cain Velasquez — front

2010Topps UFC (Series 4) #FA-CV Auto

Q-ECLV 2010

Brock Lesnar / Fedor Emelianenko / Shane Carwin / Cain Velasquez

2010 Leaf MMA

Photograph to come

2010Leaf MMA #Q-ECLV Auto

2011Finest UFC #A-CV Auto

Card eras

2009

Prospect rookies

Round 1 #82 (debut vs Brad Morris) and a Victorious Debut insert, then Round 2 base #61. No autographs yet.

2010–2011

First signatures and the title

Leaf MMA AU-CV1 and Showdowns multi-signers, Topps Series 4 FA-CV, Knockout autographs and auto relics, then 2011 Finest A-CV (packed as an exchange).

2021–2022

Panini legend

Base cards in 2021 Select (#28, #177, #270), plus signatures in Prizm, Chronicles, Immaculate and 2022 Donruss Optic.

Rookie parallels

Base

—

Unnumbered

Gold

—

High confidence

Silver

/288

High confidence

Red

High confidence

Black

/888

Probable

Sets

Where Velasquez's key cards come from.

20092009 Topps UFC Round 12 key cards
20092009 Topps UFC Round 21 key card
20102010 Leaf MMA2 key cards
20102010 Topps UFC (Series 4)1 key card
20112011 Finest UFC1 key card
20212021 Panini Select UFC1 key card

Buying & wanted

Wanted by FightCardboard

012009 Topps UFC Round 1 #82 Velasquez / Morris, plus its Silver /288
022010 Topps UFC Autograph #FA-CV and its Onyx /88
032010 Leaf MMA Showdowns Quad Autographs #Q-ECLV (Emelianenko / Carwin / Lesnar / Velasquez)

Offer one

Available here

Nothing from this archive in the vault right now. Selling one?

Research

Sets

Why 2009 Topps UFC Matters

Two products, released seven months apart, that hold the first UFC-licensed cards of almost every name from the sport's first era.

September 21, 2026

Sources & research High confidence×7Probable×2

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

Cain Velasquez's rookie card: 2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #82 — Cain Velasquez / Brad Morris.

TCDB's Velasquez listing starts in 2009 and has two RC-flagged cards: Round 1 #82 (released 23 February 2009) and Round 2 #61 (30 September 2009). #82 came first and shows his UFC debut against Brad Morris at UFC 83, confirmed by NS Lists and the card's own 'UFC DEBUT 4.19.08 UFC 83' stamp. No licensed pre-UFC card turned up from his Strikeforce or Arizona State wrestling days. SportsCardsPro marks #82 'Is Rookie Card: No', but it does the same for every 2009 Topps UFC card we checked, so it isn't pointing at a different card.