Topps forms Exclusive Partnership with UFC

Topps has announced a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship that gives the trading card manufacturer the 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.

Topps GM of Sports & Entertainment Warren Friss had this to say, “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. We are extremely excited to work with UFC and give our collectors access that has never before been available in our industry.”

Dana White, UFC President stated “We are excited to be working with Topps to showcase our incredible athletes on UFC trading cards. 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 is certainly the leader in the industry of Mixed Martial Arts, as evidenced by the stars of the sport, event ratings, and the popular UFC show on the spike network. It will be very interesting to see if existing collectors take interest in the trading card series, which will include pieces of memorabilia such as match-used glovs and pieces of the UFC Octagon.

What are your thoughts? Will UFC fans who are non-traditionally collectors take interest in the cards?

Edit: Check out Chris Olds’ take over at the Beckett Blog.