Why this is the rookie
Topps printed an RC designation on him, and it landed in 2025 Topps Knockout UFC #18, released October 24, 2025: the base line reads 'Mauricio Santos RC' in a 100-card set that marks rookies throughout. The reason this is easy to miss is the name — Topps files him as Mauricio Santos, not Mauricio Ruffy. His first card of any kind is earlier still, the print-to-order 2025 Topps Now UFC #8 from March 2025, but Topps Now issues carry no RC marker, so the earliest card and the rookie are different cards. RC-designated cards of him continue through 2025 Topps Finest UFC #161 and #231 on November 7, 2025 and 2025 Topps Royalty UFC #90 on February 6, 2026, so the Knockout card heads a group rather than standing alone.
His rookie card, and the reason the 'Ruffy has no rookie' reading falls apart. Released 24 October 2025, seven months after the Topps Now card, it is the first Topps issue to carry his RC designation — and it does so under the name Mauricio Santos, which is why collectors searching 'Ruffy' conclude no rookie exists. The two RC-marked Finest tiers follow two weeks later and Royalty repeats it in February, so this is the head of a short group rather than a lone flag.
Sellers calling the 2026 Topps UFC Freedom 250 cards his rookies. They are neither rookies nor first cards: Freedom 250 carries no RC designation anywhere, and his RC-marked cards begin fourteen months earlier in 2025 Topps Knockout UFC. The deeper trap is the name — cards catalogued as 'Mauricio Santos' are his, and a listing or a saved search that only says 'Ruffy' will miss the Topps Now, Knockout, Finest and Royalty issues entirely.
Identifying it
- Base card #18 in a 100-card checklist; the printed line reads 'Mauricio Santos RC'
- Catalogued as Mauricio Santos — the Ruffy billing appears on Topps product only in the 2026 Freedom 250 event set
- Released 24 October 2025
- He also appears in the product's Inception insert at #IN-80, which is a different card from base #18
- This is not his first card — 2025 Topps Now UFC #8 precedes it by seven months but carries no RC marker
Parallels
Card milestones
Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.
- Earliest licensed card2025 Topps Now UFC #8 Probable
- First MMA card2025 Topps Now UFC #8 Probable
- First UFC card2025 Topps Now UFC #8 Probable
- First certified autograph2025 Topps Royalty UFC Rookie Autographs #RA-MS and Rookie Relic Autographs #RRA-MS /99, from the 6 February 2026 release High confidence
- Recognized rookie card2025 Topps Knockout UFC #18 High confidence
The evidence behind each
- 2025Earliest licensed card — The card is catalogued under his legal surname: item specifics give Set '2025 Topps Now', Card Number 8, Player 'Mauricio Santos', Event UFC 313, print run 1,630, and a second listing for a signed copy repeats the set, number and name. Topps files him as Mauricio Santos throughout its products, which is why a search on 'Ruffy' misses almost all of his cards. Topps' own Topps Now archive entry has not been located, so the detail rests on marketplace item specifics.
- 2025First MMA card — Same Topps Now item specifics. No pre-UFC or regional Brazilian card of him is documented.
- 2025First UFC card — Same Topps Now item specifics. The 200-card 2025 Topps Chrome UFC checklist (27 June 2025) and the 100-card 2025 Topps Midnight UFC checklist (8 August 2025) carry no Santos line, so nothing from the pack products precedes it.
- —First certified autograph — Checklist Insider's 2025 Topps Royalty UFC checklist lists Mauricio Santos at base #90 RC with Rookie Auto #RA-MS, Rookie Jumbo Relic #RJR-MS /99, Rookie Relic Auto #RRA-MS /99, Dual Fighter Relic Auto #DFA-PS /25 with Carlos Prates and Triple Auto #TA-RSP /25. No autograph of him appears in 2025 Topps Knockout UFC or 2025 Topps Finest UFC, the only earlier products that contain him. The subset carrying #RA-MS is Rookie Autographs, not Pursuit of Greatness Signatures.
- 2025Recognized rookie card — Checklist Insider's 2025 Topps Knockout UFC checklist prints '18 Mauricio Santos RC' in a 100-card base set that uses RC markers throughout. The next RC-designated cards are 2025 Topps Finest UFC #161 and #231 (7 November 2025) and 2025 Topps Royalty UFC #90 (6 February 2026), all also marked RC.
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.
Mauricio Ruffy's rookie card: 2025 Topps Knockout UFC #18 — Mauricio Ruffy.
Topps printed an RC designation on him and it landed in 2025 Topps Knockout UFC #18, released 24 October 2025: Checklist Insider's checklist for the product prints the base line as '18 Mauricio Santos RC' in a 100-card set that marks rookies throughout. It is easy to miss because of the name — Topps files him as Mauricio Santos rather than Mauricio Ruffy, which SportsCardsPro's catalogue confirms across its UFC products. His first card of any kind is earlier still, the print-to-order 2025 Topps Now UFC #8 from March 2025, but Topps Now issues carry no RC marker, so his earliest card and his rookie are different cards. RC-designated cards of him continue through 2025 Topps Finest UFC #161 and #231 on 7 November 2025 and 2025 Topps Royalty UFC #90 on 6 February 2026, so the Knockout card heads a group rather than standing alone. SportsCardsPro's item-details panel on the later 2026 Topps UFC Freedom 250 #22 page reads 'Is Rookie Card: No', which is consistent: that card is not the rookie.
- 2026 Topps UFC Freedom 250, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProMauricio Ruffy #22 — 2026 Topps UFC Freedom 250, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2026 Topps UFC Freedom 250 set listing (variants excluded), accessed September 22, 2026
- WikipediaMaurício Ruffy, accessed September 22, 2026
- Checklist Insider2025 Topps Knockout UFC Checklist, Set Info, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProMauricio Santos catalogue listing — confirms Topps files him under Santos across its UFC products, accessed September 23, 2026
- eBay2025 Topps Now UFC 313 Mauricio Ruffy Santos #8 — item specifics: Set 2025 Topps Now, Card Number 8, Player Mauricio Santos, Event UFC 313, Print Run 1630, accessed September 23, 2026
2025 Topps Knockout UFC #18 — Mauricio Ruffy.
The RC line itself rests on one checklist. No second published checklist records the #18 line, although the same fighter's RC designation is independently confirmed in 2025 Topps Finest UFC and 2025 Topps Royalty UFC.
Copies available
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
Go deeper
- The card record2025 Topps Knockout UFC #18
- Mauricio Ruffy archiveKey cards and eras