topps just did something very smart with the UFC

TOPPS FORMS EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP® ORGANIZATION


Multi-Year Deal Gives Topps Exclusive Rights to Produce

UFC Brand Trading Cards of UFC’s Biggest Stars



The Topps Company, the leading creator and marketer of sports and related trading cards and entertainment products, and The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization, have announced an agreement that will give Topps exclusive rights to produce UFC brand trading cards featuring current, future and former UFC athletes. The deal lasts through May 2011 for UFC trading cards and stickers.

The new collector brand will allow fans to experience the history and excitement of UFC and will include all of the biggest mixed martial arts moments from the start of the brand at UFC 1 to the upcoming Nov. 15 mega-fight UFC 91, featuring returning Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar (predicted to be the organization’s biggest event ever), and all the action-packed fights to come.


“MMA continues to become one of the most popular sports in the country and Topps is looking forward to joining forces with UFC’s rising stars and illustrious history,” said Warren Friss Topps’ GM of Sports & Entertainment. “We are extremely excited to work with UFC and give our collectors access that has never before been available in our industry.”

As part of the deal, UFC will provide Topps with unique elements of their organization including images and memorabilia such as match-used gloves and pieces of the UFC Octagon. These will give the loyal fan a literal piece of the UFC or that special event. These cards are highly collectible and sought after and usually sequentially numbered to a limited quantity. Some of the UFC brand cards available to collectors will feature: Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar, Royce Gracie, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson and many others.


"We are excited to be working with Topps to showcase our incredible athletes on UFC trading cards," said Dana White, UFC President. "We look forward to having great success with Topps, and to giving UFC fans a product they can collect and trade with other fans of our sport.”



The UFC trading cards will launch in early 2009.

Now hopefully the MMA industry can get their **** together and avoid becoming a joke like pro-wrestling. I'm not saying the two sports are similar in any way but the recent debacle on national TV hurt all MMA organizations, not just EliteXC.

huge news

(Jim Ross Voice on)
"bah gawd it's Brock Lesnar, he's a hoss folks, but he ain't no okie."
(Jim Ross Voice off)

trevordchi said:

Now hopefully the MMA industry can get their shat together and avoid becoming a joke like pro-wrestling. I'm not saying the two sports are similar in any way but the recent debacle on national TV hurt all MMA organizations, not just EliteXC.

Click to expand...

THis ought to be good.
How so?

I cant wait for MMA cards

Hopefully they include Gina Carano. She isnt on the preliminary checklist for the UD MMA cards set to release next week. Hoping she is a late addition.

you would think with all the MMA fans on this site, the MMA forum would get more love.

trevordchi said:

Now hopefully the MMA industry can get their shat together and avoid becoming a joke like pro-wrestling. I'm not saying the two sports are similar in any way but the recent debacle on national TV hurt all MMA organizations, not just EliteXC.

Click to expand...

I'd have to disagree to an extent. Yes, casual fans that were just tuning in to see Kimbo may not come back, but if they weren't gonna watch MMA without Kimbo after his previous fights, it really doesn't matter much in the long run.

However, I believe in an odd way it might have been good for the sport for him to be knocked out so quickly. Some casual fans watching for Kimbo might say to themselves "I thought Kimbo was a complete bad-ass and could take anyone, but he was dropped in 14 seconds by an relatively unknown. I wonder how tough some of these guys are." Although, I can't speak for a casual fan because I've ordered UFC PPV's and watched them at Hooters on occasion.

Russ S. said:

trevordchi said:

Now hopefully the MMA industry can get their shat together and avoid becoming a joke like pro-wrestling. I'm not saying the two sports are similar in any way but the recent debacle on national TV hurt all MMA organizations, not just EliteXC.

Click to expand...

THis ought to be good.
How so?

Click to expand...

+10000

Only people who would assume ufc was hurt by this are people who dont have a clue about mma. Dana White has been making fun of Kimbo since day one saying he is a circus, how that would hurt the UFC is beyond me.

cgilmo said:

you would think with all the MMA fans on this site, the MMA forum would get more love.

Click to expand...

Well, I know that myself, Sam, Ty, HPC, Russ and peaceandlove are usually over there...

i cant wait to see those cards. should be great. i wonder if WEC will be included in this set or if it will just be UFC.

GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!

Now I can buy box after box after box and barely pull any autos!!!

YAY!!


Here's to 9 million 'Octagon Worn Shorts' cards of some ****** that doesn't even deserve to be in the set probably!!!!

I can't wait!!!

beefycheddar said:

huge news

(Jim Ross Voice on)
"bah gawd it's Brock Lesnar, he's a hoss folks, but he ain't no okie."
(Jim Ross Voice off)

Click to expand...

BOOMER SOONER!!!!!


DR. DEATH!!! DR. DEATH!!! DR. DEATH!!!!!!


I could go on for days with the Ross-ism's

P_Manning 18 said:

Hopefully they include Gina Carano. She isnt on the preliminary checklist for the UD MMA cards set to release next week. Hoping she is a late addition.

Click to expand...

She isn't in the UFC.

nyc3 said:

Russ S. said:

trevordchi said:

Now hopefully the MMA industry can get their shat together and avoid becoming a joke like pro-wrestling. I'm not saying the two sports are similar in any way but the recent debacle on national TV hurt all MMA organizations, not just EliteXC.

Click to expand...

THis ought to be good.
How so?

Click to expand...

+10000

Only people who would assume ufc was hurt by this are people who dont have a clue about mma. Dana White has been making fun of Kimbo since day one saying he is a circus, how that would hurt the UFC is beyond me.

Click to expand...

I doubt the casual MMA fan (which I imagine right now comprises the bulk of MMA fans; people who watch on occasion but don't follow religiously) really knows much about the distinction between the different "leagues" of MMA and will really discern. I think any hit to any MMA segment is a hit to all of them. Throw in the fact that MMA is rarely nationally televised and I think it can't be positive. JMO.

MojoDan said:

cgilmo said:

you would think with all the MMA fans on this site, the MMA forum would get more love.

Click to expand...

Well, I know that myself, Sam, Ty, HPC, Russ and peaceandlove are usually over there...

Click to expand...

I think it's been doing alright.



For some reason, I'd rather this not be a Topps product. I just don't really like Topps all that much these days. You either have to pay out of the ass to get some hits, or you buy boxes like Ginter where you have to buy a freaking case to get any good hits at all. I HOPE that the UFC product isn't like either one of those.

I'd much rather Upper Deck handle UFC and make the product like SPA or Masterpieces HIT wise.

Sam Banks said:

MojoDan said:

cgilmo said:

you would think with all the MMA fans on this site, the MMA forum would get more love.

Click to expand...

Well, I know that myself, Sam, Ty, HPC, Russ and peaceandlove are usually over there...

Click to expand...

I think it's been doing alright.

Click to expand...

It should be the second busiest forum on this board.

cgilmo said:

Sam Banks said:

MojoDan said:

cgilmo said:

you would think with all the MMA fans on this site, the MMA forum would get more love.

Click to expand...

Well, I know that myself, Sam, Ty, HPC, Russ and peaceandlove are usually over there...

Click to expand...

I think it's been doing alright.

Click to expand...

It should be the second busiest forum on this board.

Click to expand...

I wish it was. It's been picking up lately.


I just edited my last post.

I am willing to bet the Topps set includes UFC, Pride, and WEC fighters. All are entities of Zuffa, so they might be able to legally pull it off.

That means that 90% of the top fighters in the world will be in these Topps MMA sets, which is good and bad.

Now, while I think the exclusivity contract is a good thing, they als fail to realize the main selling point of any MMA set. It's much more about the name of the actual fighter, rather than the name of their current organization. Many of these fighters take on a fan base of their own, and that really doesn't sway much with the organization(s) they move to.

All that said, I am still looking forward to this.

The casual fans are the ones that make football, baseball, and basketball so huge. Without the casual fans all you have is a sport like soccer in the U.S. Hard core fans are unaffected by the happenings last week but to become a mainstream sport which is what UFC is trying to do, you must have interest from the casual fan. To the casual fan, MMA doesn't look very credible.

EliteXC had an opportunity to really elevate the status of MMA in America with their national prime time (not pay-per-view) audience. They really screwed it up.