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Working pick
2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #31 Rashad Evans / Brad Imes — front
#31
Rookie research

Rashad Evans
Rookie Card Case

The candidates, the evidence for each, and which card FightCardboard treats as the working pick.

  • Working pick2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #31
  • SubjectRashad Evans / Brad Imes
  • Year2009
  • ManufacturerTopps
  • ConfidenceProbable
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
Verified×1Probable×1Uncertain×1View sources & research

Why this is the working pick

Round 1 #31 is his first card in a UFC-licensed product and the one the market treats as his rookie, and Collectibles.com dates his rookie season to 2009. The support for it is weaker than the archive currently claims: neither 2009 Topps product prints a rookie logo, the Trading Card Database flags both his Round 1 and Round 2 base cards rather than singling one out, and SportsCardsPro records neither as a rookie. His first card of any kind is a year earlier still — the 2008 Donruss Americana II Ring Kings insert numbered to 500. On that evidence the designation is hobby usage rather than anything authoritative, so the confidence drops from high to probable.

Round 1's whole premise was UFC debuts, so Evans's rookie is a two-man card with Brad Imes from the TUF 2 Finale — the night he won the season-two heavyweight tournament. He was the reigning light heavyweight champion when the set shipped in early 2009, and this is still the card the market means by 'Rashad Evans rookie'.

Commonly misidentified

Because #31 is a two-man card, listings file it under Brad Imes, and the Silver /288 and Gold parallels of #31 are routinely advertised as separate 'rookie' cards rather than parallels of the same card.

Identifying it

  • Two fighters on one front; card number 31 on the back.
  • Back references The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale, 5 November 2005.
  • Listings file it under either name — search 'Imes' as well as 'Evans'.

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Red
1/1
Probable
Silver
/288
High confidence
Black
/888
Probable
Gold
unnumbered
Probable

Card milestones

Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.

The evidence behind each
  • 2008Earliest licensed card — TraderCracks' Americana II checklist lists the 30-card Ring Kings insert as 'RK-RE Rashad Evans /500', and photographed copies of its sibling cards confirm the coding and the print run — eBay listings show 'Ring Kings 89/500 Jay Hieron #RK-JH' and 'Gina Carano #RK-GC ... 235/500'. Jeff Allender's checklist orders the same insert 1–30 and places Evans sixth, which is where the archive's '#6' comes from.
  • 2008First MMA card — TraderCracks' Ring Kings checklist is made up almost entirely of MMA fighters; Americana II carries no UFC marks.
  • 2009First UFC card — SportsCardsPro's card page confirms 'Brad Imes, Rashad Evans #31' in 2009 Topps UFC Round 1 and records the rookie field as 'No'. Topps held no UFC licence before 2009.
  • 2010First certified autograph — SportsCardsPro carries a card page for '2010 Topps UFC Autographs #FA-RE Rashad Evans'. Neither 2009 Topps UFC product holds an Evans signature — Collectibles.com's register lists a 2009 Topps UFC Round 2 Fight Mat Relic as his earliest 2009 hit, and that card is unsigned.
  • 2009Recognized rookie card — Collectibles.com's register states 'Rashad Evans debuted as a Rookie in 2009' without naming a card, and marketplace catalogues tag #31 '(RC)'. The Trading Card Database flags both of his 2009 base cards — Round 1 #31 and Round 2 #44 — which is a product-wide pattern in Topps' first two UFC sets rather than a judgement about Evans, and SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No' on both.

Grading & population

Population figures will be taken directly from the grading companies and dated when they are. None are shown yet.

Sources & research Verified×1Probable×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.

Probable

Rashad Evans's rookie card: 2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #31 — Rashad Evans / Brad Imes.

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #31 is his first card in a UFC-licensed product and the one the market treats as the rookie: eBay listings and the COMC catalogue title it 'Rashad Evans vs Brad Imes #31' with an RC / Rookie tag, and Jeff Allender's Round 1 checklist confirms the number and the subject pairing. Like the rest of the 2009 Topps UFC run it is a hobby convention rather than a league-designated RC — SportsCardsPro's own data field says 'not a rookie card' for #31, #44 and #61 alike, and the 2008 Donruss Ring Kings card is a year earlier.

Verified

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #31 — Rashad Evans / Brad Imes.

Uncertain

Rookie status only — see the rookie block. The number, set and subjects agree across three sources.

Copies available

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