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True rookie
2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 Tony Ferguson — front
#16
Rookie card guide

Tony Ferguson
Rookie Card

Which card is the rookie, how to tell it, and what gets mistaken for it.

  • The answer2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16
  • SubjectTony Ferguson
  • Year2011
  • ManufacturerTopps
  • ConfidenceHigh confidence
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
Verified×1High confidence×1Uncertain×1View sources & research

Why this is the rookie

2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 is both Ferguson's first card and the only card any source calls his rookie. MMA Rookies names it his True Rookie Card and records no other rookies for him; Topps' own Ripped article and Beckett's marketplace both carry 'RC' in the card's title. Cardboard Connection's checklist confirms he is in the base set only — he has no insert or autograph card anywhere in that product. The one thing that cannot be shown is a printed rookie logo: Cardboard Connection's checklist marks no card in the 220-card set as an RC, so the designation rests on hobby usage rather than on the card itself.

Ferguson's first trading card, from the 220-card Moment of Truth base set released 30 November 2011 — the first Topps UFC product issued after he won The Ultimate Fighter 13 on 4 June 2011. Neither 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot (4 May 2011) nor 2011 Finest UFC carries him, so nothing earlier exists. It is also his only rookie-year card: he is not in the product's 70-card Certified Signatures checklist, so no 2011 certified autograph of him was issued.

Commonly misidentified

A seller listing of the rookie records its number as #194; every checklist source says #16. Sellers also list the Gold, Onyx /188 and Ruby /8 versions of #16 as 'the rookie' when they are parallels of the same base card, and 2012 Finest UFC #41 is sometimes titled 'RC' because it is his first chrome card.

Identifying it

  • Base card #16 in a 220-card checklist numbered #1–#220
  • Released 30 November 2011, the Moment of Truth design (Topps' late-2011 UFC flagship)
  • One parallel per pack: Gold (unnumbered), Onyx /188, Ruby /8, Diamond 1/1, plus 1/1 printing plates
  • Shows him post-TUF 13, before his second UFC fight

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Diamond
1/1
High confidence
Printing Plate
1/1
High confidence
Ruby
/8
High confidence
Onyx
/188
High confidence
Gold
—
High confidence

Card milestones

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

The evidence behind each
  • 2011Earliest licensed card — Cardboard Connection's 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth checklist places him at #16 in the 220-card base set and in no other checklist in the product; MMA Rookies lists no Ferguson card before it.
  • 2011First MMA card — Same card — a UFC-licensed Topps issue and the earliest Ferguson card identified.
  • 2011First UFC card — Cardboard Connection checklist; Topps Ripped names the same card as his first Topps appearance, tied to his TUF 13 win.
  • 2012First certified autograph — Cardboard Connection's 2012 Topps UFC Knockout Fighter Autographs checklist reads 'FA-TF Tony Ferguson'. He appears in no autograph checklist in 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth, and the two 2012 Finest UFC signatures (#A-TF and #FM-TF) shipped on 28 August 2012.
  • 2011Recognized rookie card — MMA Rookies names it his True Rookie Card and lists no other rookies; Topps' own Ripped article titles the card '2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 Gold Tony Ferguson RC'; Beckett's marketplace lists '2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 Tony Ferguson RC'.

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.

High confidence

Tony Ferguson's rookie card: 2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 — Tony Ferguson.

2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 is both his first card and the card the market treats as his rookie. Topps' own Ripped article names '2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16' as his rookie card, and Beckett's marketplace lists the card as '2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 Tony Ferguson RC'. The timing fits cleanly: he won TUF 13 on 4 June 2011 and Moment of Truth shipped 30 November 2011, the first Topps UFC product to include him. The two 2011 products that came earlier do not carry him — the 2011 Topps UFC Title Shot set list (released 4 May 2011, before his Octagon debut) and the 2011 Finest UFC set list both returned no Ferguson entry. The one dissenting data point is SportsCardsPro, whose rookie field for #16 reads 'No'; it reads 'No' for every later Ferguson card too, so it appears to be a blanket absence of rookie flags in its UFC data rather than a judgement against #16.

Verified

2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #16 — Tony Ferguson.

Uncertain

One eBay listing sold as his 'Rookie Card RC' records the number as #194 in its item specifics; no checklist source supports #194. Rookie designation itself is disputed — see the rookie block.

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