The rookie case
2010 Topps UFC Main Event #144
Faber's earliest confirmed trading card, and the reason he is a Topps-WEC case rather than a Topps-UFC one. Main Event was Topps' third UFC product and the first to carry a block of WEC fighters; Faber lands in that WEC Fighter run at #144, roughly a year before he ever fought in the Octagon and two years after he had already lost the WEC featherweight title. He is absent from the 200-card 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 (Round 4) checklist, so there is nothing of his from between his 2003 pro debut and this card.
Sources disagree on whether #144 is a designated rookie card. eBay's catalogue marks it (RC) and places it in a rookie subset; SportsCardsPro's rookie field says No. TCDB, which normally carries the RC flag, could not be consulted and Beckett is offline site-wide, so the flag could not be settled. Cardboard Connection has no Urijah Faber player page (404).
Sellers sometimes describe the 2011 Finest UFC #32 as a 'Finest Debut' card and price it as a rookie; the checklist shows it as a plain base card. Gold and Red parallels of the 2011 base cards are also listed as 'the rookie' — they are parallels.
Key Faber cards
10 cards chosen for significance, not completeness; autographs and numbered cards follow below.
Card history
Faber is the clearest case of a fighter whose cardboard begins in the WEC. He turned professional in November 2003, held the WEC featherweight title and lost it in 2008, and none of it was ever printed. His earliest card is 2010 Topps UFC Main Event #144, catalogued under that product's WEC Fighter block — a year before he ever entered the Octagon at UFC 128 and two years after the belt was gone. He is not in the 200-card 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 checklist at all, so seven years separate his pro debut from any licensed card.
The rookie question turns on that one card and sources split on it: eBay's catalogue titles #144 with '(RC)' and places it in the base set's rookie subset, while SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No'. Nothing else competes on date — his December 2010 Knockout card is ten months later and carries no designation either. Two habits to watch in listings: the 2011 Finest #32 gets sold as a 'Finest Debut' rookie when the checklist shows it as a plain base card, and the Gold and Red parallels of his 2011 base cards get sold as rookies when they are parallels.
December 2010's Knockout — billed as the first high-end UFC product, one autograph or memorabilia card per pack — is where the depth starts. Base #124 came with Gold, Silver, Green, Red and an Octagon Mat 1/1, and the same box gave him his first certified autograph, #A-UF, with a Red Ink version above it, plus his first relics: #FG-UF, #FM-UF, #APP-UF and the autographed #AFG-UF in Green /88, Red /8 and Mat 1/1 tiers. Sources disagree on the autograph's print run, one reporting 188 copies and the checklist showing no serial numbering at all. All of it was signed while he was still a WEC fighter with no UFC bout to his name.
2011 is the merger year and his busiest. Title Shot, released 4 May, was the 150-card set that folded the WEC roster into the Topps UFC line, and Faber sits at #60 with a Gold parallel and a Legacy insert. Finest gave him his first chrome card at #32 with the deepest ladder of his career — Refractor, X-Fractor /388, Gold Refractor /88, Octa-Fractor /8 and a Red Refractor 1/1 — alongside a Finest Moments insert #FM-UF, an Atomic Refractor #FAR-13, and the Fighters Autograph, also numbered #A-UF, whose own refractor run tops out at a Red 1/1 with a Gold /25 and Octa /8 beneath it. That product also produced a Finest Moments Autograph #FMA-UF /188 and a Fight Mat Jumbo Autograph Relic #AMR-UF /25. Moment of Truth #71 closed the year on 30 November, and 2012 Knockout #56 is the last of his Topps base cards.
Under Panini he comes back as a retired Hall of Famer rather than a roster name. 2021 Prizm UFC Signatures #SG-UFB is his first Panini autograph, with a Green Prizm version documented, and 2023 Prizm UFC #146 is where a modern Faber rainbow starts, with a Red Prizm /199 confirmed. Codes repeat across his run more than most: #A-UF is his autograph number in both 2010 Knockout and 2011 Finest, and #SG-UFB is his signature number in both 2021 Prizm and 2023 Select, so the set name matters more than the code when buying.
Autographs
3 certified autographs in the archive.
Card eras
Topps' third UFC product carried a WEC Fighter block and Faber landed at #144. It is his first card of any kind; nothing from his 2003–2009 WEC title run was issued.
December 2010's high-end Knockout gave him base #124 with Gold, Silver, Green, Red and Octagon Mat 1/1 parallels, his first certified autograph (#A-UF, plus a Red Ink variant) and a run of relics: #FG-UF, #FM-UF, #APP-UF and the autographed #AFG-UF with Green /88, Red /8 and Mat 1/1 versions.
After UFC 128 the WEC roster folded into the Topps UFC line: Title Shot #60 (4 May) with a Gold parallel and a Legacy insert, Finest UFC #32 with the full Refractor/X-Fractor /388/Gold /88/Octa /8/Red 1/1 ladder and the #A-UF Finest Fighters Autograph, then Moment of Truth #71 on 30 November.
2012 Topps UFC Knockout #56 is his last Topps base card verified here. Sellers also list a 2013 Topps Finest UFC jumbo threads relic at #JFT-UF, which could not be checked against a second source.
Under Panini's licence Faber returns as a retired Hall of Famer: 2021 Prizm UFC Signatures #SG-UFB (his first Panini autograph, Green Prizm parallel confirmed), 2022 Chronicles UFC #17, a 2022 Immaculate dual autograph with Dominick Cruz numbered /25, 2023 Prizm UFC #146 with a Red /199, and 2023 Select UFC Signatures #SG-UFB with a Purple Prizm /49.
Sets
Where Faber's key cards come from.
- 20102010 Topps UFC Main Event1 key card
- 20102010 Topps UFC Knockout1 key card
- 20102010 Topps UFC Knockout Fighter Autographs1 key card
- 20112011 Topps UFC Title Shot1 key card
- 20112011 Finest UFC1 key card
- 20112011 Finest UFC Autographs1 key card
- 20112011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth1 key card
- 20122012 Topps UFC Knockout1 key card
- 20212021 Panini Prizm UFC Signatures1 key card
- 20232023 Panini Prizm UFC1 key card
Buying & wanted
- 012010 Topps UFC Main Event #144 — the WEC Fighter card, his first of any kind
- 022010 Topps UFC Knockout #A-UF Red Ink autograph, and the #AFG-UF Autographed Fighter Gear Red /8
- 032011 Finest UFC Fighters Autographs #A-UF Gold Refractor /25 or Octa-Fractor /8
- 042022 Panini Immaculate UFC Dominick Cruz / Urijah Faber dual autograph /25 — the rivalry on one card
Nothing from this archive in the vault right now. Selling one?
Sources & research High confidence×12Probable×4
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.
Urijah Faber's rookie card: 2010 Topps UFC Main Event #144 — Urijah Faber.
It is the earliest Faber card confirmed by two independent sources, and it sits in a UFC-licensed Topps base set. eBay's catalogue entry titles it '2010 Topps UFC Main Event - WEC Fighter Urijah Faber #144 (RC)' and describes it as part of the base set's rookie subset. Jeff Allender's complete checklist for 2010 Topps UFC Round 4 (Series 4) has no Faber card, and no Faber row was found in SportsCardsPro's 100-card 2010 Leaf MMA base list, so nothing earlier in the Topps or Leaf 2010 wave competes with it. The counterweight is SportsCardsPro, whose rookie field for #144 reads 'No'.
- eBay2010 Topps UFC Main Event - WEC Fighter Urijah Faber #144 (RC) — eBay catalogue page, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProUrijah Faber #144 | 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, accessed September 22, 2026
- 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 (Round 4), accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsPro2010 Leaf MMA checklist (100-card base, no Cyborg), accessed September 22, 2026
- WikipediaUrijah Faber — career facts, WEC title reign, UFC debut, 2017 Hall of Fame induction, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2010 Topps UFC Main Event Base / Rookie Cards pick list (lists '#144 Urijah Faber'), accessed September 22, 2026
Faber is the clearest case of a fighter whose cardboard begins in the WEC. He turned professional in November 2003, held the WEC featherweight title and lost it in 2008, and none of it was ever printed. His earliest card is 2010 Topps UFC Main Event #144, catalogued under that product's WEC Fighter block — a year before he ever entered the Octagon at UFC 128 and two years after the belt was gone. He is not in the 200-card 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 checklist at all, so seven years separate his pro debut from any licensed card.
The rookie question turns on that one card and sources split on it: eBay's catalogue titles #144 with '(RC)' and places it in the base set's rookie subset, while SportsCardsPro's rookie field reads 'No'. Nothing else competes on date — his December 2010 Knockout card is ten months later and carries no designation either. Two habits to watch in listings: the 2011 Finest #32 gets sold as a 'Finest Debut' rookie when the checklist shows it as a plain base card, and the Gold and Red parallels of his 2011 base cards get sold as rookies when they are parallels.
December 2010's Knockout — billed as the first high-end UFC product, one autograph or memorabilia card per pack — is where the depth starts. Base #124 came with Gold, Silver, Green, Red and an Octagon Mat 1/1, and the same box gave him his first certified autograph, #A-UF, with a Red Ink version above it, plus his first relics: #FG-UF, #FM-UF, #APP-UF and the autographed #AFG-UF in Green /88, Red /8 and Mat 1/1 tiers. Sources disagree on the autograph's print run, one reporting 188 copies and the checklist showing no serial numbering at all. All of it was signed while he was still a WEC fighter with no UFC bout to his name.
2011 is the merger year and his busiest. Title Shot, released 4 May, was the 150-card set that folded the WEC roster into the Topps UFC line, and Faber sits at #60 with a Gold parallel and a Legacy insert. Finest gave him his first chrome card at #32 with the deepest ladder of his career — Refractor, X-Fractor /388, Gold Refractor /88, Octa-Fractor /8 and a Red Refractor 1/1 — alongside a Finest Moments insert #FM-UF, an Atomic Refractor #FAR-13, and the Fighters Autograph, also numbered #A-UF, whose own refractor run tops out at a Red 1/1 with a Gold /25 and Octa /8 beneath it. That product also produced a Finest Moments Autograph #FMA-UF /188 and a Fight Mat Jumbo Autograph Relic #AMR-UF /25. Moment of Truth #71 closed the year on 30 November, and 2012 Knockout #56 is the last of his Topps base cards.
Under Panini he comes back as a retired Hall of Famer rather than a roster name. 2021 Prizm UFC Signatures #SG-UFB is his first Panini autograph, with a Green Prizm version documented, and 2023 Prizm UFC #146 is where a modern Faber rainbow starts, with a Red Prizm /199 confirmed. Codes repeat across his run more than most: #A-UF is his autograph number in both 2010 Knockout and 2011 Finest, and #SG-UFB is his signature number in both 2021 Prizm and 2023 Select, so the set name matters more than the code when buying.
2010 Topps UFC Main Event #144 — Urijah Faber.
- eBay2010 Topps UFC Main Event - WEC Fighter Urijah Faber #144 (RC) — eBay catalogue page, accessed September 22, 2026
- SportsCardsProUrijah Faber #144 | 2010 Topps UFC Main Event, accessed September 22, 2026
- eBay2010 Topps UFC Main Event Base / Rookie Cards pick list (lists '#144 Urijah Faber'), accessed September 22, 2026
- 2010 Topps UFC Series 4 (Round 4), accessed September 22, 2026
2010 Topps UFC Knockout #124 — Urijah Faber.
2010 Topps UFC Knockout Fighter Autographs #A-UF — Urijah Faber.
2011 Topps UFC Title Shot #60 — Urijah Faber.
2011 Finest UFC #32 — Urijah Faber.
2011 Finest UFC Autographs #A-UF — Urijah Faber.
2011 Topps UFC Moment of Truth #71 — Urijah Faber.
2012 Topps UFC Knockout #56 — Urijah Faber.
2021 Panini Prizm UFC Signatures #SG-UFB — Urijah Faber.
2023 Panini Prizm UFC #146 — Urijah Faber.