Why this is the rookie
Two independent hobby authorities land on the same card. MMA Rookies lists 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 as Tate's True Rookie Card and records no other rookie cards; Cardboard Connection's Tate player guide calls it 'Miesha Tate's de facto rookie card' and dates her first trading cards to that product. The 220-card checklist confirms the number, and the set's 30 November 2011 release was the first time a UFC-licensed product carried Strikeforce fighters, which is why nothing earlier exists.
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.
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
Card milestones
Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.
- Earliest licensed card2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 Verified
- First MMA card2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 Verified
- First UFC card2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 Verified
- First certified autograph2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth Certified Signatures #CS-MT High confidence
- Recognized rookie card2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129 Verified
The evidence behind each
- 2011Earliest licensed card — Cardboard Connection's Tate player guide states her first trading cards were released in 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth; MMA Rookies opens her vault entry with the same card; the product checklist confirms #129.
- 2011First MMA card — Cardboard Connection player guide plus MMA Rookies; no pre-2011 Strikeforce or independent MMA issue of her is catalogued.
- 2011First UFC card — Cardboard Connection states Moment of Truth carried 'the first Strikeforce cards in a UFC product' and names Miesha Tate among them.
- 2011First certified autograph — Cardboard Connection's 70-card Certified Signatures checklist lists CS-MT Miesha Tate; MMA Rookies records the same card as her first autograph.
- 2011Recognized rookie card — MMA Rookies names it her True Rookie Card with 'Other Rookies: None'; Cardboard Connection's player guide calls the same card 'Miesha Tate's de facto rookie card'. Two independent hobby authorities, no credible counter-claim.
Grading & population
Population figures will be taken directly from the grading companies and dated when they are. None are shown yet.
Sources & research Verified×1High confidence×1Uncertain×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.
Copies available
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
Go deeper
- The card record2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #129
- Miesha Tate archiveKey cards and eras
- 2011 Topps UFC Moment of TruthSet record