Why this is the earliest card
Lawler's earliest card is 2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL, an on-card autograph from the Cage Fighter Signature Renditions subset that carries an artist's rendering instead of a photograph and shipped on 17 March 2010; TraderCracks' checklist for the product lists it in a 15-card subset and gives that date, and it is also his first certified signature. It was not pack-issued in a promotion-licensed set: the first card of his that was is 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #213, released 30 November 2011 in the product Cardboard Connection identifies as the first Topps UFC release to include Strikeforce fighters. Neither is a rookie card and no source designates one — nothing of his carries an RC flag, SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No' on #213 and on 2021 Panini Prizm UFC #195, and Collectibles.com's register names no Lawler card as a rookie. He fought his first UFC bout in May 2002, seven years before Topps held the licence, so no manufacturer ever issued him as a new fighter.
The earliest Robbie Lawler card on record and his first certified autograph, both at once — a fighter seven years into a UFC and PRIDE career whose cardboard opens with a signature and no base card. It shipped on 17 March 2010, more than eighteen months before his first card in a UFC-licensed set, and it is the card that explains why one register dates his debut to 2010.
Identifying it
- Coded CFSR-RL in the 15-card Cage Fighter Signature Renditions subset; sibling cards catalogue the same way, e.g. '2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts - Cage Fighter Signature Renditions #CFSR-BV' for Brandon Vera.
- Renditions cards carry an artist's rendering rather than a photograph, and the subset is autographs only — there is no relic element.
- The separate Cage Fighter Signatures subset uses a CFS- prefix; the extra R is what tells the two apart.
- Seven of the fifteen Renditions cards have Premium parallels numbered to 50 and 100; sources do not name which seven.
- Brand year 2009, ship date 17 March 2010 — listings under either year are the same card.
Card milestones
Five separate questions, kept separate. How these are defined.
- Earliest licensed card2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL Probable
- First MMA card2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL High confidence
- First UFC card2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #213 Verified
- First certified autograph2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL High confidence
- Recognized rookie cardNone documented Unconfirmed
The evidence behind each
- 2009Earliest licensed card — TraderCracks' Prominent Cuts checklist lists 'CFSR-RL Robbie Lawler' in the 15-card Cage Fighter Signature Renditions subset, gives the product's release date as 17 March 2010, and describes the subset as autographs only with no relic. COMC catalogue titles for sibling cards read '2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts - Cage Fighter Signature Renditions #CFSR-BV'. No manufacturer checklist for the subset has been seen directly, which holds the confidence at probable.
- 2009First MMA card — TraderCracks' checklist places the MMA content of Prominent Cuts in two Cage Fighters Signatures subsets; the product is otherwise a multi-sport and entertainment release.
- 2011First UFC card — Cardboard Connection's set page gives the 30 November 2011 release date, a 220-card base set, and names Lawler among the Strikeforce fighters added; its checklist lists him at #213. SportsCardsPro's earliest Lawler entries are the 2011 Moment of Truth cards.
- 2009First certified autograph — TraderCracks describes the Cage Fighter Signature Renditions subset as purely signature-based hits, and nothing of Lawler's predates the March 2010 release.
- —Recognized rookie card — SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No' on 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #213 and on 2021 Panini Prizm UFC #195, and Collectibles.com's Lawler register names no card as a rookie card at all. He fought his first UFC bout in May 2002, seven years before Topps held the licence, so no manufacturer ever issued him as a new fighter.
Grading & population
Population figures will be taken directly from the grading companies and dated when they are. None are shown yet.
Sources & research Probable×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.
Robbie Lawler's earliest card: 2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL — Robbie Lawler.
Lawler has no rookie card and no source designates one: SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No' on 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #213 and on 2021 Panini Prizm UFC #195, and Collectibles.com's Lawler register names no card as a rookie. He fought his first UFC bout in May 2002, seven years before Topps held the licence, so no manufacturer ever issued him as a new fighter. His earliest card of any kind is 2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts, Cage Fighter Signature Renditions #CFSR-RL — an on-card autograph carrying an artist's rendering instead of a photograph, from a product that shipped on 17 March 2010, and also his first certified signature. TraderCracks' Prominent Cuts checklist lists 'CFSR-RL Robbie Lawler' in the 15-card subset and gives that release date. His first pack-issued base card in a licensed fight-promotion set comes two years later: 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #213, released 30 November 2011 in the set Cardboard Connection identifies as the first Topps UFC release to include Strikeforce fighters.
- 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth, accessed September 21, 2026
- SportsCardsProRobbie Lawler #213 — 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProSearch: Robbie Lawler 2011 (5 cards — #213 and its parallels), accessed September 22, 2026
- 2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts, accessed September 21, 2026
- Steel City CollectiblesRobbie Lawler 2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts Autograph Card #CFSR-RL, accessed September 22, 2026
- Collectibles.comRobbie Lawler card register (2017 Topps UFC Chrome SuperFractor #16), accessed September 22, 2026
2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL — Robbie Lawler.
Print run and on-card vs sticker are unconfirmed — no reachable source states either. Trader Cracks says the Cage Fighter Signatures autographs mostly run under 10 copies and that seven cards carry a /50 Premium version, but it does not say which, and it does not give numbering for the Renditions series. SportsCardsPro has no 2009 Lawler card in its database at all, so this rests on dealer and auction listings plus the Trader Cracks checklist.
Copies available
Nothing from the archive is currently available.
Go deeper
- The card record2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts #CFSR-RL
- Robbie Lawler archiveKey cards and eras
- 2009 Upper Deck Prominent CutsSet record