Collector profile “The Last Emperor”

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor never set foot in the Octagon, so there is no Topps UFC rookie to chase — his early paper is the Japanese-issued 2006 Pride FC set (DSE), which TCDB flags as his RC run, and the 2010 Leaf MMA release that Western hobby press sold as his first cards. The real prizes are autographs: the 2006 Pride FC #127EX signed card numbered to 10, and Leaf's 2010 signed run, including dual autos with Brock Lesnar for a fight that never happened. Panini brought him back into licensed-style product only in 2025–26 through its PFL-era Combat Anthology and Contenders sets.

2006Rookie year

#014Rookie card

13Key cards

RINGS debutMay 21, 2000 · Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria
DivisionsHeavyweight
StatusRetired · Bellator (as of Sept 2026)
FromRubizhne, Luhansk Oblast (then Ukrainian SSR)

2006 PRIDE FC #014 Fedor Emelianenko — back

2006 PRIDE FC #014 Fedor Emelianenko — front

The rookie case

#014

Rookie card · working pick Rookie disputed

2006 PRIDE FC #014

The working pick for Fedor's rookie: RC-flagged on TCDB, Japanese-issued, from the 2006 PRIDE FC set TCDB users call the first full MMA card set, and made while he was PRIDE heavyweight champion. It is the Fedor card sold as his rookie in PSA 10 listings and at Fanatics Collect, though #127 carries the same RC flag.

Where sources disagree

Sources disagree on whether his first cards are the Japanese-issued 2006 Pride FC (DSE) set or 2010 Leaf MMA. TCDB flags both the 2006 Pride FC cards and 2010 Leaf MMA #1 as RC, while Cardboard Connection calls 2010 Leaf MMA the 'first MMA product featuring Fedor Emelianenko' and a Beckett News headline calls the Leaf cards 'Fedor's First Cards' — neither mentions the 2006 set.

Commonly misidentified

Labels vary without changing the card: TCDB calls the set '2006 Pride FC', PSA and Fanatics Collect slab it as '2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix', and eBay sellers use 'DSE Pride FC'; the card is printed 014 but PSA labels it #14. eBay seller titles also attach #71 to both Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman — TCDB lists #71 as Fedor/Coleman and #73 as Fedor/Randleman. The 2006 #127EX autograph is a rookie-year autograph, not an RC-flagged card.

Probable×1View sources & research

Rookie card case Card record

Key Emelianenko cards

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

2010 Leaf MMA #1 Fedor Emelianenko — front

2010 Leaf MMA #1 Rookie

2025 Panini Contenders PFL #60

2025 Panini Combat Anthology #30

2006 PRIDE FC #127 Rookie

Card history

Fedor's first cards are Japanese: TCDB lists eight RC-flagged Fedor cards in the 2006 PRIDE FC set, which DSE released on 11 January 2006. They include base #014 and #127, which also comes in Silver and Gold foil facsimile-signature versions. The only certified autograph is 127EX, numbered to 10.

Leaf's 2010 MMA set (released 22 September 2010) brought him to US packs. Cardboard Connection billed it as the 'first MMA product featuring Fedor Emelianenko'. It had no UFC licence, so Leaf could make him card #1 and give him base, Champions and National Pride autographs, a Showdowns dual with Brock Lesnar and two quad autographs.

After 2010 his card output almost stops. Before 2025 TCDB lists only a 2016 Leaf Sports Heroes autograph and an unlicensed 2020-21 'All Sports' card, and no Topps UFC cards at all. Panini then brought him back with licences: 2025 Contenders PFL (18 July 2025) has a Season Ticket base card, Bellator Ink and Season Ticket Signatures autographs, and 2025 Combat Anthology (5 November 2025) has base #30, several inserts and three autograph cards.

Sources for every paragraph

Autographs

8 certified autographs in the archive.

2006PRIDE FC #127EX Auto/10

2010Leaf MMA #AU-FE1 Auto

FE1/BL1 2010

Fedor Emelianenko / Brock Lesnar

2010 Leaf MMA

Photograph to come

2010Leaf MMA #FE1/BL1 Auto

2025 Panini Combat Anthology #MS-FEM Fedor Emelianenko — front

2025Panini Combat Anthology #MS-FEM Auto

2010Leaf MMA #CH-FE1 Auto

2010Leaf MMA #NP-FE1 Auto

BA-FE1 2016

Fedor Emelianenko

2016 Leaf Sports Heroes

Photograph to come

2016Leaf Sports Heroes #BA-FE1 Auto

BT-FEM 2025

Fedor Emelianenko

2025 Panini Contenders PFL

Photograph to come

2025Panini Contenders PFL #BT-FEM Auto

Card eras

2006

Pride FC, Japan

DSE's 2006 Pride FC set — described on TCDB as the first full MMA card set — gives Fedor eight base cards (solo and head-to-head) plus silver/gold foil facsimile-signature parallels of #127 and a #127EX autograph numbered to 10.

2008–2009

Affliction era

Only promotional-style NNO Affliction event cards (Day of Reckoning, Trilogy) are catalogued; there was no mainstream licensed Fedor product while he headlined Affliction and moved to Strikeforce.

2010

Leaf MMA

Leaf MMA (released September 2010) makes Fedor card #1 and loads him into Red/Purple/Gold autographs, Champions and National Pride autos, and Showdowns dual and quad autos with Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin.

2016

Leaf Sports Heroes

A certified BA-FE1 autograph with Gold /25, Blue Spectrum /10 and 1/1 Gold Spectrum and printing-plate versions keeps him in the Leaf multi-sport line during his Rizin comeback.

2025–2026

Panini PFL era

Panini's 2025 Combat Anthology (base #30, MMA Stars Signatures, Iconic Rivals dual autos with Tim Sylvia) and 2026 Contenders PFL #42 with Season Ticket Signatures give him his first large-scale modern run.

Sets

Where Emelianenko's key cards come from.

20062006 PRIDE FC3 key cards
20102010 Leaf MMA5 key cards
20162016 Leaf Sports Heroes1 key card
20252025 Panini Combat Anthology2 key cards
20252025 Panini Contenders PFL2 key cards

Buying & wanted

Wanted by FightCardboard

012006 Pride FC Autographs #127EX Fedor Emelianenko (TCDB: serial numbered to 10)
022006 Pride FC #014 Fedor Emelianenko in PSA 10 (slabbed by PSA as '2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix')
032010 Leaf MMA Showdowns Dual Autographs FE1/BL1 Fedor Emelianenko / Brock Lesnar (Red /10 per TCDB)
042010 Leaf MMA Autographs Gold AU-FE1 (TCDB: /5)

Offer one

Available here

Nothing from the archive is currently available.

Cards come and go one at a time. Selling one?

FightCardboard verified sales

No FightCardboard verified sales recorded yet.

A verified sale is a transaction we completed or watched happen. Until there is one, there is nothing here to cite.

Research

Card Guides

Fedor's Early Cards: A Collector's Guide

No Octagon, no Topps UFC rookie. What Fedor has instead is a Japanese PRIDE set from 2006, a Leaf release from 2010, and a genuine argument over which came first in collectors' minds.

September 21, 2026

Fedor's Early Cards: A Collector's Guide

Sources & research High confidence×11Probable×6Uncertain×7

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.

Probable

Fedor Emelianenko's rookie card: 2006 PRIDE FC #014 — Fedor Emelianenko.

TCDB flags all eight of Fedor's 2006 Pride FC base cards as RC and describes the set as the first full MMA set ever released, which predates 2010 Leaf MMA by four years. Of the eight, #014 is the one sellers treat as 'the' rookie: Sports Card Investor tracks it with a dedicated price page, and it is the one sold in PSA 10 as 'Rookie Card RC' / 'grail' in eBay listings and at Fanatics Collect (label: '2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix Fedor Emelianenko #14'). #127 is the other strong candidate because it is his other solo card and the one with foil-signature parallels and an autographed #127EX version. The choice of #014 over #127 is a market-convention call, not a manufacturer designation. DISPUTE: Sources disagree on whether his first cards are the Japanese-issued 2006 Pride FC (DSE) set or 2010 Leaf MMA. TCDB flags both the 2006 Pride FC cards and 2010 Leaf MMA #1 as RC, while Cardboard Connection calls 2010 Leaf MMA the 'first MMA product featuring Fedor Emelianenko' and a Beckett News headline calls the Leaf cards 'Fedor's First Cards' — neither mentions the 2006 set.

Trading Card Database2006 Pride FC #014 Fedor Emelianenko, accessed September 21, 2026
2006 PRIDE FC, accessed September 21, 2026
Sports Card InvestorFedor Emelianenko 2006 Pride FC #14 Base, accessed September 21, 2026
Fanatics Collect2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix Fedor Emelianenko #14 PSA 10, accessed September 21, 2026

Uncertain

Which is Fedor's first card: TCDB flags the 2006 Pride FC (Japan) cards as RC, while Cardboard Connection and a Beckett headline present 2010 Leaf MMA as his first cards/product.