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True rookie
2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection #42 Israel Adesanya — front
#42
Rookie card guide

Israel Adesanya
Rookie Card

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

  • The answer2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection #42
  • SubjectIsrael Adesanya
  • Year2018
  • ManufacturerTopps
  • ConfidenceVerified
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
Verified×2View sources & research

Why this is the rookie

TCDB lists only one Adesanya card dated 2018 — Museum Collection #42 — and it carries TCDB's RC flag and appears on TCDB's 20-card rookie list for the set. The card itself shows the Topps RC logo. Topps' own Ripped blog (August 15, 2024) presents #42 as his rookie card. His 2019 Knockout #34 and 2019 Chrome #57 are not RC-flagged; #57 is absent from TCDB's 2019 Chrome rookie list.

Adesanya's only RC-designated card and his only card dated 2018, released November 28, 2018, less than a year after his UFC debut. Topps' own Ripped blog presents it as his rookie card and notes the back recaps his 2018 wins over Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori and Brad Tavares. Museum Collection was a high-end, 50-card product, so this is not a cheap retail rookie.

Commonly misidentified

Sellers sometimes call the 2019 Topps Chrome UFC #57 a rookie because it is his first Chrome card; it carries no RC designation.

Identifying it

  • Card #42 of 50 in 2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection
  • RC logo lower right; 'ISRAEL ADESANYA • MIDDLEWEIGHT' nameplate
  • Base is unnumbered; Gold /75, Sapphire /25, Ruby /8 and Emerald 1/1 are serial-numbered parallels
  • Set release date November 28, 2018 (TCDB, Cardboard Connection)

What gets mistaken for it

What you'll readWhat's true
2019 Topps Chrome UFC #57 is Adesanya's rookie card#57 is not on TCDB's 2019 Chrome UFC rookie list; his first Chrome card came ten months after the 2018 Museum Collection RC.
Copper parallel is numbered /159TCDB's person listing shows a '159' serial flag for Copper, but Cardboard Connection lists Copper without a print run. Treat Copper's numbering as unconfirmed.

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Copper
—
Probable
Gold
/75
Verified
Sapphire
/25
Verified
Ruby
/8
Verified
Emerald
/1
Verified

Grading & population

Population figures will be taken directly from the grading companies and dated when they are. None are shown yet.

Sources & research Verified×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.

Verified

Israel Adesanya's rookie card: 2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection #42 — Israel Adesanya.

TCDB lists only one Adesanya card dated 2018 — Museum Collection #42 — and it carries TCDB's RC flag and appears on TCDB's 20-card rookie list for the set. The card itself shows the Topps RC logo. Topps' own Ripped blog (August 15, 2024) presents #42 as his rookie card. His 2019 Knockout #34 and 2019 Chrome #57 are not RC-flagged; #57 is absent from TCDB's 2019 Chrome rookie list.

Verified

2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection #42 — Israel Adesanya.

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