Why this is the rookie
The 2009 TUF Season 10 autograph should keep its place as Kimbo's earliest card and his only certified signature — that is now firmly documented — but the rookie card is the 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 #147. Topps built a debut subset into that base set and annotated those cards as UFC Debut rookies, which is the closest thing to a manufacturer rookie designation anywhere in Kimbo's run; Cardboard Connection's checklist carries the annotation, Jeff Allender's checklist files #147 under Debut Rookie Cards, and eBay's catalogue tags the card '(RC)'. SportsCardsPro's rookie field answers 'No', but it is alone in that. Presenting the 2009 autograph as the earliest card and #147 as the rookie separates the two claims cleanly instead of making one card carry both.
Kimbo's first pack-issued base card and his rookie. It sits in the 200-card 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 set, released 24 September 2010, among the debut cards Topps grouped as rookies, and it was issued after his TUF 10 run and his December 2009 win over Houston Alexander and before the UFC 113 loss to Matt Mitrione that ended his UFC career. Because he has no other mainstream base card from his fighting years, this is the default Kimbo card for anyone building an MMA set.
Listings sometimes describe the 2010 Topps UFC #147 Gold or Bronze /88 parallels as 'the rookie'; they are parallels of #147. The 'Kevin Ferguson' card is also occasionally sold as a separate rookie — it is the nickname variation of the same #147, and it is distinct again from the copies of the 2009 TUF autograph that Kimbo signed with his legal name.
Identifying it
- Number 147 within a 200-card base set released 24 September 2010
- A separate 'Kevin Ferguson' nickname variation shares the number 147 — check the name on the front
- Jeff Allender's checklist files it under the set's Debut Rookie Cards; no RC logo on the card itself is documented
- Gold parallels are unnumbered; Silver is #/188, Bronze #/88, Ruby #/8 and Diamond 1/1
What gets mistaken for it
| What you'll read | What's true |
|---|---|
| The 2010 Topps UFC Kimbo Slice is a Topps UFC 'Round 4' card and a different card from Series 4. | They are the same product — nslists files 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 under 'UFC Round 4'. |
Parallels
Card milestones
Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.
- Earliest licensed card2009 Topps UFC Round 2 TUF Season 10 Autographs #TUF-KS High confidence
- First MMA card2009 Topps UFC Round 2 TUF Season 10 Autographs #TUF-KS High confidence
- First UFC card2009 Topps UFC Round 2 TUF Season 10 Autographs #TUF-KS High confidence
- First certified autograph2009 Topps UFC Round 2 TUF Season 10 Autographs #TUF-KS Verified
- Recognized rookie card2010 Topps UFC (Series 4) #147 High confidence
The evidence behind each
- 2009Earliest licensed card — Jeff Allender's House of Checklists lists 'TUF-KS Kimbo Slice' under a 'TUF Season 10 Autographs' heading in Round 2; PSA catalogues the card under the set name '2009 Topps UFC TUF Season 10 Autograph'; eBay's catalogue carries it as '2009 Topps UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 Autographs Kimbo Slice #TUF-KS'. MMAWeekly reported on 21 September 2009 that Topps had added Kimbo and fifteen other TUF 10 fighters to the product, and called it his first-ever autographed trading card. No earlier licensed Kimbo card exists.
- 2009First MMA card — Same card. EliteXC, where he made his name in 2007-2008, never had a licensed card set, so his cardboard begins with Topps' UFC licence.
- 2009First UFC card — Same card; 2009 Topps UFC Round 2 released 30 September 2009, and the TUF 10 signatures were added to it to coincide with the season's 17 September television premiere.
- 2009First certified autograph — MMAWeekly's September 2009 report calls it 'Kimbo Slice's first-ever autographed trading card' and notes the TUF 10 signatures were on-card. Blowout Buzz's write-up on Kimbo's card run states he has just one certified autograph and that he never signed any of the relic cards Topps produced afterwards.
- 2010Recognized rookie card — Topps designated debut cards inside the Series 4 base set: Cardboard Connection's checklist annotates those entries 'UFC Debut RC', and Jeff Allender's checklist files #147 under a 'Debut Rookie Cards' heading. eBay's catalogue title for the card reads '2010 Topps UFC Series 4 - Kimbo Slice #147 (RC)'. SportsCardsPro's rookie field answers 'No', which is the one dissent.
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.
Kimbo Slice's rookie card: 2010 Topps UFC (Series 4) #147 — Kimbo Slice.
Topps built a debut subset into the 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 base set and annotated those cards as UFC Debut rookies, which is the closest thing to a manufacturer rookie designation anywhere in Kimbo's run: Cardboard Connection's checklist carries the annotation, Jeff Allender's House of Checklists files #147 under Debut Rookie Cards, and eBay's catalogue title for the card reads '2010 Topps UFC Series 4 - Kimbo Slice #147 (RC)'. SportsCardsPro's rookie field answers 'No', and it is alone in that. His earliest card is a year older and is recorded separately: 2009 Topps UFC Round 2, TUF Season 10 Autographs #TUF-KS, his only certified signature, which MMAWeekly reported on 21 September 2009 as his first-ever autographed trading card. Nothing earlier exists — EliteXC had no licensed card issue, and the 30-card Ring Kings insert in 2008 Donruss Americana II does not include him.
- Jeff Allender's House of ChecklistsUFC Round 2 (2009 Topps) checklist, accessed September 22, 2026
- 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 Nickname Variation Base Cards, accessed September 23, 2026
- SportsCardsProKimbo Slice #147, 2010 Topps UFC, accessed September 23, 2026
- NS ListsAmericana II (Donruss) checklist, accessed September 21, 2026
- Cardboard Connection2009 Topps UFC Round 2 Review, accessed September 20, 2026 Source for parallel structure, insert sets and box configuration. Internally inconsistent on Onyx serial numbering (base /188 vs insert /88) — see claim-r2-onyx.
- 2010 Topps UFC (Series 4), accessed September 21, 2026
2010 Topps UFC (Series 4) #147 — Kimbo Slice.
Rookie status only. SportsCardsPro's structured field says it is not a rookie card; sale titles on the same page call it a rookie. No source reached confirms an RC logo on the card.
Copies available
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
Go deeper
- The card record2010 Topps UFC (Series 4) #147
- Kimbo Slice archiveKey cards and eras
- 2010 Topps UFC (Series 4)Set record