New York, Sept. 30, 2008 – 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.
New York, Sept. 30, 2008 – 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.
About The Topps Company, Inc.
Founded in 1938, Topps is a leading creator and marketer of sports and related cards, entertainment products, and distinctive confectionery. Topps entertainment products include Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA and other trading cards, sticker album collections, and collectible games. The Company's confectionery brands include "Bazooka" bubble gum, "Ring Pop," "Push Pop," "Baby Bottle Pop" and "Juicy Drop Pop" lollipops. For additional information, visit www.topps.com <http://www.topps.com> .
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Bell ExpressVU, Viewers Choice, SaskTel Max™ and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting, UFC, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.