Collector profile “The Machine”

Merab Dvalishvili

Merab missed Topps' first UFC era entirely, so his card story starts with Panini: 2021 Prizm #87 is his RC-logo rookie. His title win over Sean O'Malley at UFC 306 came in Topps' first year back, which gave him a Topps Now card and his first Topps Chrome base card.

2021Rookie year

#87Rookie card

6Key cards

UFC debutDecember 9, 2017 · UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega
DivisionsBantamweight · Featherweight
StatusActive · UFC (as of Sept 2026)
FromVani, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union

Rookie card

2021 Panini Prizm UFC #87 Merab Dvalishvili — front

#87

The rookie

#87

Rookie card

2021 Panini Prizm UFC #87

Merab's rookie card, from the April 2021 set that started Panini's UFC run (Cardboard Connection). TCDB lists no cards for him before 2021, so this set also holds his first licensed cards. The Prizm parallels run from Silver to a Black 1/1.

Commonly misidentified

SportsCardsPro's product field says 'Is Rookie Card: No' for Prizm #87, even though the card prints an RC logo. His 2022 cards (Donruss, Optic, Prizm #198) are sometimes listed as rookies but have no RC flag on TCDB.

High confidence×1View sources & research

Rookie card guide Card record

Key Dvalishvili cards

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

2021 Panini Instant UFC #RR25

2022 Panini Prizm UFC #198

2024 Topps Now UFC #21

2024 Topps Chrome UFC #135

Autographs

1 certified autograph in the archive.

2022 Donruss Optic UFC #SS-MDV Merab Dvalishvili — front

2022Donruss Optic UFC #SS-MDV Auto

Card eras

2021–2023

Panini rookie era

Prizm #87 RC, Instant cards including the Rated Rookie Retro RR25, then 2022 Donruss, Optic (with Signature Series autographs), Select and Prizm #198.

2024–

Champion on Topps

2024 Topps Chrome #135 and Topps Now #21 for the UFC 306 title win, followed by 2025 Chrome and Topps Now issues highlighted by Topps Ripped.

Rookie parallels

Base

—

Unnumbered

Silver Prizm

—

High confidence

White Sparkle

—

High confidence

Green

—

High confidence

Red

/275

High confidence

Blue

/199

High confidence

Sets

Where Dvalishvili's key cards come from.

20212021 Panini Prizm UFC1 key card
20212021 Panini Instant UFC1 key card
20222022 Panini Prizm UFC1 key card
20222022 Donruss Optic UFC1 key card
20242024 Topps Now UFC1 key card
20242024 Topps Chrome UFC1 key card

Buying & wanted

Wanted by FightCardboard

012021 Panini Prizm UFC #87 RC, especially the low-numbered Prizm parallels
022022 Donruss Optic UFC Signature Series #SS-MDV and its numbered parallels
032024 Topps Now UFC #21 (UFC 306 title win)

Offer one

Available here

Nothing from this archive in the vault right now. Selling one?

Sources & research Verified×2High confidence×2Probable×3

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.

High confidence

Merab Dvalishvili's rookie card: 2021 Panini Prizm UFC #87 — Merab Dvalishvili.

TCDB's earliest Dvalishvili cards are from 2021. 2021 Panini Prizm UFC #87 is TCDB-flagged RC and prints Panini's Rookie Card logo. Cardboard Connection confirms #87 in the Prizm set released April 28, 2021. In 2021 he also appears in Panini Instant: base #39 (print run 115) and Rated Rookie Retro #RR25, which carries a manufacturer rookie designation. Prizm #87 is the mainstream, hobby-released rookie and the working pick.