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Earliest card research

Vadim Nemkov
Earliest Card

What exists, what does not, and which card the archive treats as the earliest.

  • Earliest card2025 Panini Contenders PFL #16
  • SubjectVadim Nemkov
  • Year2025
  • ManufacturerPanini
  • ConfidenceHigh confidence
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
Verified×1High confidence×1View sources & research

Why this is the earliest card

Nemkov has no rookie card in any designated sense. Panini put no RC logos in Contenders PFL or Combat Anthology, and SportsCardsPro's own card pages for both his 2025 Contenders #16 and his 2026 Contenders #1 record them as not rookies. Because he never fought in the UFC he has no Topps UFC or Panini Prizm UFC issue that could serve as one, and Bellator was unlicensed for the whole of his championship run. The earliest Nemkov card confirmed anywhere is 2025 Panini Contenders PFL Season Ticket #16, from the first hobby product to include him, released July 18, 2025 — so that is recorded as his earliest significant card rather than as an RC.

Nemkov's first trading card, arriving on July 18, 2025 — five years after he took the Bellator light heavyweight title off Ryan Bader and two years after his last Bellator title defence. Bellator had no card licensee for the whole of his championship run, so the entire Bader/Davis/Anglickas/Anderson/Romero era exists only in this retrospective Season Ticket slot. He is listed as a heavyweight, reflecting the PFL move rather than the division he actually ruled.

The dispute

There is no printed rookie card and no hobby authority has designated one. The only live question is whether a Panini Instant issue of him exists from 2024–2026 that would be earlier or contemporaneous; it was not possible to reach a source either way, so the 2025 Contenders base is recorded as his earliest confirmed card rather than as a settled rookie.

Identifying it

  • Card #16 in the 100-card Season Ticket base checklist
  • Nameplate reads 'VADIM NEMKOV' with 'HEAVYWEIGHT' as the division, not Light Heavyweight
  • Contenders 'ticket stub' base design; the unnumbered Silver is the common parallel, so an unnumbered card with no colour flood is the plain base
  • Serial-numbered tiers are stamped on the front ticket panel

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Season Ticket Silver
—
High confidence
Season Ticket Red
/299
High confidence
Playoff Ticket
/199
High confidence
Season Ticket Blue
/199
High confidence
Main Card Ticket
/99
High confidence

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×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

Vadim Nemkov's earliest card: 2025 Panini Contenders PFL #16 — Vadim Nemkov.

Nemkov has no rookie card in any designated sense. Panini put no RC logos in Contenders PFL or Combat Anthology, and SportsCardsPro's own card pages for both his 2025 Contenders #16 and his 2026 Contenders #1 record them as not rookies. Because he never fought in the UFC he has no Topps UFC or Panini Prizm UFC issue that could serve as one, and Bellator was unlicensed for the whole of his championship run. The earliest Nemkov card confirmed anywhere is 2025 Panini Contenders PFL Season Ticket #16, from the first hobby product to include him, released July 18, 2025 — so that is recorded as his earliest significant card rather than as an RC.

Verified

2025 Panini Contenders PFL #16 — Vadim Nemkov.

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