Why this is the working pick
Main Event #147 is Cerrone's first card in a licensed Zuffa product, released 24 February 2010 while he was still a WEC lightweight, and Collectibles.com dates his rookie season to 2010. The designation itself is marketplace convention rather than anything printed: Topps put no rookie logo on the card and SportsCardsPro records it as not a rookie. The only rival from the same year, 2010 Leaf MMA #36, is unlicensed and seven months later, so the ordering is not in question even though the label is.
His first card in a licensed Zuffa product, issued while he was still a WEC fighter and a year before he ever walked to a UFC cage. Topps carried WEC fighters in this 150-card base set, and the eBay catalogue title keeps the 'WEC Fighter' designation, which is how you tell it apart from his later UFC-era base cards.
Identifying it
- Base card, number 147 of a 150-card base set.
- eBay's catalogue title for the card carries a 'WEC Fighter' label; expect WEC rather than UFC imagery.
- Topps' third UFC product, reviewed by Cardboard Connection on 25 Feb 2010.
Parallels
Card milestones
Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.
- Earliest licensed card2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 High confidence
- First MMA card2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 High confidence
- First UFC card2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 High confidence
- First certified autograph2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Fighter Autographs #FA-DCE High confidence
- Recognized rookie card2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 Probable
The evidence behind each
- 2010Earliest licensed card — Cardboard Connection gives the 24 February 2010 release date and the 140 UFC plus 10 WEC composition, and SportsCardsPro's card page confirms 'Donald Cerrone #147, 2010 Topps UFC Main Event'. The only other 2010 candidate, Leaf MMA #36, is from a set released 22 September 2010.
- 2010First MMA card — Collectibles.com's register records nothing before 2010 and states he 'debuted as a Rookie in 2010'.
- 2010First UFC card — Cardboard Connection confirms the WEC fighters sit in the Main Event base set; his first card as a UFC fighter proper is 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #73.
- 2011First certified autograph — Cardboard Connection dates Title Shot to 4 May 2011 and records a 50-card Fighter Autographs subset, which matches the archive. The other 2011 Cerrone signature, Finest UFC #A-DCE, comes from a product released 31 August 2011, and Collectibles.com's register shows the Title Shot autograph as his earliest priced card. No Cerrone signature exists in any 2010 product.
- 2010Recognized rookie card — Collectibles.com states 'Donald Cerrone debuted as a Rookie in 2010' without naming a card, and eBay's catalogue title for #147 carries '(RC)'. SportsCardsPro's rookie field on the same card reads 'No', and no printed rookie logo has been documented. The only other 2010 card of him, Leaf MMA #36, is from an unlicensed set released seven months later.
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×1Probable×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.
Donald Cerrone's rookie card: 2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 — Donald Cerrone.
2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 is his first card in a licensed Zuffa product. Topps included WEC fighters in the set (Cardboard Connection's Title Shot write-up confirms Topps was still carrying WEC fighters into 2011), and Cerrone's card is catalogued on eBay as '2010 Topps UFC Main Event - WEC Fighter Donald Cerrone #147 (RC)'. SportsCardsPro lists the same card at #147 but its data panel reads 'Is Rookie Card: No', so the RC designation is a marketplace convention rather than a printed RC logo. Main Event released 23 Feb 2010 (TCDB, via the archive's existing set record), which puts it ahead of everything else he has.
- eBay2010 Topps UFC Main Event - WEC Fighter Donald Cerrone #147 (RC), accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProDonald Cerrone #147 | 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProDonald Cerrone #36 | 2010 Leaf MMA, accessed September 22, 2026
- 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot Fighter Autograph Relics, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2010 Topps UFC Main Event Donald Cerrone #147 Base Card, accessed September 22, 2026
2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147 — Donald Cerrone.
Rookie status only — see the rookie block. The set's parallel structure is not documented on any page was reachable; a Gold parallel is attested by an eBay multi-listing title ('2010 Topps UFC Main Event Gold MMA Cards Pick From List'), with no print run given.
Copies available
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
Go deeper
- The card record2010 Topps UFC Main Event #147
- Donald Cerrone archiveKey cards and eras
- 2010 Topps UFC Main EventSet record