Why this is the working pick
Cardboard Connection's Tate player guide calls 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 her 'de facto rookie card' and dates her trading-card debut to 2011. The same site's product review confirms she is on the 220-card base checklist at #129 and that this was the first UFC set to include Strikeforce fighters — which is why nothing earlier exists: she was a Strikeforce champion during a period when the Topps UFC licence did not cover that promotion. No pre-2011 licensed card turned up for her. She is not in the 100-card 2010 Leaf MMA base set: SportsCardsPro's set page for 2010 Leaf MMA lists 100 items alphabetically from Akihiro Gono through Takeya Mizugaki with no Tate row.
Her first card of any kind, and a landmark for the whole women's/Strikeforce side of the hobby: Moment of Truth (released 30 November 2011) was the first UFC-licensed set Topps allowed Strikeforce fighters into, alongside Cris Cyborg, Gilbert Melendez and Robbie Lawler. Tate was the reigning Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion at the time, four months after submitting Marloes Coenen, and had no licensed cardboard until this set.
Two things cut against a clean 'verified'. SportsCardsPro's data field for #129 reads 'Is Rookie Card: No' even though its own listing titles use (RC), and Collectibles.com's register claims a 2010 rookie debut without naming a 2010 card. TCDB, which normally settles RC flags for this era, could not be consulted, so the flag itself is unconfirmed.
Sellers describe the Gold, Onyx and Ruby versions of #129 as separate rookies; they are parallels of the same card.
Identifying it
- 220-card base set; Tate is #129.
- Cardboard Connection describes the photo as a close-up action shot of Tate pummelling an opponent.
- Strikeforce-era card: she had not yet fought in the UFC when it was issued.
Parallels
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.
Miesha Tate's rookie card: 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 — Miesha Tate.
Cardboard Connection's Tate player guide calls 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 her 'de facto rookie card' and dates her trading-card debut to 2011. The same site's product review confirms she is on the 220-card base checklist at #129 and that this was the first UFC set to include Strikeforce fighters — which is why nothing earlier exists: she was a Strikeforce champion during a period when the Topps UFC licence did not cover that promotion. No pre-2011 licensed card turned up for her. She is not in the 100-card 2010 Leaf MMA base set: SportsCardsPro's set page for 2010 Leaf MMA lists 100 items alphabetically from Akihiro Gono through Takeya Mizugaki with no Tate row.
- Cardboard ConnectionMiesha Tate Cards, Rookie Cards and Memorabilia Guide, accessed September 23, 2026
- 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth, accessed September 21, 2026
- SportsCardsProMiesha Tate #129 — 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth, accessed September 23, 2026
- Collectibles.comMiesha Tate card register, accessed September 23, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2010 Leaf MMA set list (100 items; Eddie Alvarez #88), accessed September 23, 2026
2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 — Miesha Tate.
Parallel names don't line up cleanly. Cardboard Connection's product review lists Gold, Onyx /188, Ruby /8, Diamond 1/1 and Printing Plates 1/1; its Tate player page describes the card's parallels as 'Gold, Black, Red and Diamond'; SportsCardsPro's set page counts 1,100 items for a 220-card set and its variant labels read base, Gold, Independence Edition, Onyx and Ruby. The set-level list from the product review is the one recorded here.
Go deeper
- The card record2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129
- Miesha Tate archiveKey cards and eras
- 2011 Topps UFC Moment of TruthSet record