The stars of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) are just starting to appear on trading cards. A few have made appearances in multi-sport sets, and a bunch of popular fighters will make their cardboard debuts on the Ring Kings inserts that will be part of Donruss Americana II, which is scheduled to ship next week. It's anyone's guess how these new collectibles will fare in the marketplace, but the right man to give them a boost may just have been discovered over the July 4th weekend.
That would be Forrest Griffin, who won a tense decision over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 86 and captured the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Already a popular figure among MMA fans - Griffin won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show which has been responsible for a great deal of UFC's current wave of momentum - he now holds what has historically been the promotion's marquee title and could be set to reach a whole new level of stardom.
Griffin also has personality, heart and one of the fiercest work ethics in his sport, qualities that should only help endear him even more to collectors. And those collectors won't have to wait long to grab his first cards, as he'll be a featured prominently in Ring Kings. Along with a regular card (which will look like the promo pictured here), Beckett.com is reporting that Griffin will also have autographs and fight-worn memorabilia cards inserted in packs of Donruss Americana II.
The "Big Four" sports have always had athletes come along to help propel their cards at just the right times - like LeBron James and Sidney Crosby did in recent years for basketball and hockey, respectively. Just like Griffin has shown it's no shocker for him to win the biggest fights, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the person who helps MMA cards take off.
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