Ilia Topuria Z-Force #Z-31: 2023 SkyBox Metal Universe Champions
We have catalogued 5 versions of Ilia Topuria's Z-Force #Z-31, the 2023 SkyBox Metal Universe Champions insert that revives a 1990s basketball brand, from the regular card to the Universe Rave 1/1. 4 have a photo of the actual copy.
Z-Force is a 50-card insert in 2023 SkyBox Metal Universe Champions, a multi-sport set, and Ilia Topuria is #Z-31 and the insert's only MMA fighter, alongside Michael Jordan (Z-1), Ken Griffey Jr., Caleb Williams, Iga Swiatek and boxer Vergil Ortiz Jr., per Upper Deck's official checklist, which marks him as a *Rookie*.
Front: Ilia Topuria in his stance, shirtless, over a pink and red marbled background with a black mesh; his surname in gold letters running vertically on the left, his name on a black band on the right and the “Z Force” logo at the bottom. Per the photo of our copy.
Back: “TOPURIA” in large type, the number Z-31 and a paragraph: he improved his featherweight record to 13-0 by forcing Bryce Mitchell to tap to an arm-triangle choke in the second round in Las Vegas on 10 December 2022. Below, his details: born 21 January 1997 in Halle (Westfalen), Germany, 5'7" and 146 lbs, category MMA. Per the photographed back of our copy.
Where it comes from: a 1996 basketball brand
Z-Force began as SkyBox's own product, 1996-97 Z-Force Basketball, per Cardboard Connection (a secondary source). Upper Deck revived it as an insert in 2022 Metal Universe Champions, with 30 cards and no fighters, per Cardboard Connection.
2023 is its second appearance under Upper Deck and the first with an MMA fighter in the insert: Ilia Topuria.
It returned in 2024 with Bo Nickal and Lydia Warren, per the official 2024 checklist, and in 2026 Metal Universe SE with Dakota Ditcheva, per Checklist Insider (secondary). Ilia Topuria is in neither.
Which box it comes from and how often
Some Z-Force falls every 5 packs, at the same odds in Hobby, e-Pack and Blaster, per the official checklist. Split across 50 names, Ilia Topuria's Z-31 lands on average once every 250 packs: our estimate, if all fall equally.
A Hobby box holds 15 packs of 7 cards and 3 Z-Force on average, per Checklist Insider (secondary): the Z-31 turns up in about one in every 17 Hobby boxes (our estimate). Released on 24 April 2024, per the same source.