It seems like ancient history now, but the end of 2016 featured the much-anticipated return of Ronda Rousey to the UFC Octagon. It was so anticipated that Topps released a Rousey Now card just based on the announcement that Rousey would come back. That early preview card had a print run of 331 copies.
It's a good thing Topps featured Rousey on a card when they did, because she got absolutely rocked by Amanda Nunes, who earned the TKO finish in 48 seconds. This card had 214 copies ordered by collectors.
Maybe the most entertaining fight of the night was Cody Garbrandt's masterful defeat of Dominick Cruz for the Bantamweight belt. This card had 213 copies printed.
Like the back of the card says, TJ Dillashaw set himself up for a future title shot against Garbrandt by beating John Lineker. This card wasn't as popular, pulling in only 115 orders.
As of now, these are the latest UFC Now cards put out by Topps. I wasn't sure if Topps would put out cards for UFC 208, as the two main fights on that card ended controversially. In the main event, Germaine de Randamie beat Holly Holm by decision, mostly on the strength of several late hits that some argued should have cost her points on the scorecards. In the other headlining fight, Anderson Silva won a decision over Derek Brunson. I think just about everyone who saw that fight had Brunson winning it, but the judges went with the name brand over the fighter who seemed better on the evening. So Topps just ignored that mess, probably rightly so.
Tonight's UFC 209 has produced some decent fights so far, but I don't know if there's a lot of big-name draw here. I will be interested to see if Topps puts out some more UFC Now cards, or if they just let this branch of the Now tree dry up and fall off.
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