How is this possible?!

Ok i've been on this site for about three days now and I am shocked that this sight being up for so long does not have any threads for the Anderson Silva forum!!! What is wrong here?! I thought I'd at least find some "I hate the spider" threads or something. How can this man, who is considered by this website (which means all of its members) the no. 2 pound for pound best fighter and no. 1 middle weight AND no. 10 favourite fighter not have posts!!! For shame. Discuss.

Probably any of the threads like you would find on a site like Sherdog are deleted. Most discussions on Anderson right now is about his bout with Vitor which has it's own thread. Other discussions are often about rankings. Don't think there is no discussion about Anderson just because the Anderson Forum is empty. 

@LilSpyder - in reference to Bigj383, so far Tapology users have been the very opposite of most sherdog forums. Almost all the users on this site aren't here to promote hate for a fighter, they are all bringing their arguments using facts about the fighters like their stylistic matchups, wins/losses, etc. All this means to me is that Tapology is much more recognized by the hard core MMA fan as opposed to the Sherdog nuthuggers and haters who might not watch nearly as much MMA as we do.

bklettke and Bigj383 thank you both. Bigj383 that makes a lot of sense to me, still kinda weird that someone would not post in his regular forum though. bklettke thanks for telling me about the awesome community here at tapology.com.

Lilspyder -

Our forum is still much smaller than many other forums.  Tapology has only been around for a couple months and so the forum is just getting going with regular users. A year from now it will be much busier. 

(also a year from now we'll have made a lot of different improvements)

Yeah, I really hate sherdog. I'm glad Tapology isn't getting the same fighter bashing **** that goes on there. A little disrespect here and there is ok (imo), but the GSP nuthuggers say Anderson sucks, Anderson nuthuggers say GSP sucks, and don't even get me started on the Fedor nuthuggers... but Tapology is great.

We are all partial to our favorite fighter "nuthugging" ala myself with GSP, but i will never go out bashing fighters i don't like ala Michael Bisping. I for one thing Bisping is an amazing talent and continuously shows improvement with each fight, but i will never go on record saying he sucks, same with Brock Lesnar. Fact based discussions without fighter/user bashing is what it's really all about.

Hmm ok so I know I used the bashing comment to highlight this point, but I was also intending to say where are the people who really like anderson silva to post on his forum? I know that tapology is a new forum, as Gregory mentioned, and Anderson is not in favour by most people right now, but still I thought he had some other hard core fans like myself who would stand up for him and say Go Anderson!

I have to admit lilspyder I was put off by his behavior at the press conference today (sunglasses) particularly with his comment that the fight of the decade would be between himself and his clone.

Silva/Belfort prediction thread is pretty pro-Silva!

http://www.tapology.com/forum/bouts/ufc-127-anderson-the-spider-silva-vs-vitor-the-phenom-belfort/385-Silva_vs__Belfort_Prediction_Commentary

It should be pro-Silva.  It's going to be really tough for Vitor to beat Anderson in a striking war while coming off of an 18-month injury layoff.  Both Anderson and Vitor have very definitive styles, but Anderson's has proven to be much more effective.

I love Anderson Silva and can't believe how much hate I see for him.  People seem to let a couple of bad performances overshadow a bunch of incredible, god-like performances.

thefreeman the reason why he did do those shady things is because he does not like vitor at all. He's been talking so much **** about him, and calling him this and that. So the shades thing was pretty along those lines. Him saying he'd fight his clone to be the best fight of the decade would be soo dull though! I mean he's a counter striker, so two counter striker squaring off would not look good and especially if he acted like how he did of late he'd just make faces and stuff at himself and maybe try a random bruce lee like move. Don't get me wrong I love Anderson but I would not want to see that fight. I much rather prefer his fights against Irving, Griffin, Franklin, and Leben. Like LynxGuy put it those were really God-like performances and I hope he returns to that form on saturday. Best maybe if he just permanately moved up to 205? I mean he's performed his best at that weight and he definetly trains to be better at 205.

I don't see it being too crazy exciting until someone gets caught. Belfort has been a counterstriker as of late too, so i see this thing starting off pretty slow. No one will ever bring the fight to Anderson like Sonnen did. . . . @lilspyder = your completely right, Anderson feels disrespected because Vitor came to train with the Black House gym and then turned around and asked for a title shot (Countdown). He never does say much when he doesn't respect an oppenent. Example - he claims his Franklin fights are still some of the toughest of his career and has oodles of praise and respect for Rich even though he steamrolled him. With Vitor he's saying everything possible to downplay this fight as just another fight to piss him off.

Odds are he's hoping Vitor's anger will eventually lead him to bull rush Silva with strikes which is where he's at his best.

@bklettke so true i will say this the way he acts he's a really awesome cerebral fighter. For instance the act of him speaking portuguese and asking for the translator. He understands english people! He can also speak it, but I understand that it's not the best yet. But yeah he's definetely playing mind games so he can incite a reaction out of vitor and i don't think it will work although vitor has shown that he can be distracted out of his game plan i think he's matured past that point by now hopefully.

so I've been on the site a few days and I'm loving it, really enjoying that you guys are all about discussions based on facts and not opinions. That being said I what does everyone think about some critics saying Anderson has been "fed" opponents in the past few years? First fight Leben, a counter strikers dream opponent because of his reckless brawling style, Rich of course was a real test and Anderson proved he could destroy elite level fighters, Lutter shocked everyone by being able to control Anderson on the ground until trying for a sloppy armbar, now Lutter is basically off the radar all together, Marquardt is an exceptional talent but seems to choke in high stakes matches but that was another impressive performance by Silva. Rich Franklin 2 we know the story. Henderson posed problems and was his biggest test at the time, Silva showed everyone he had the heart of a champ in that fight. James Irvin was battling addiction and is another instance of a sloppy power striker going up against a deadly counter strike artist another name on the list that has pretty much resorted to struggling on the regional circuit.

Cote fought well but was dealing with a nagging injury before the fight and he is another example of a decent striker being put against an elite striker, Cote is not even listed in MW top 10 anymore and has been cut. Thales Leites, the only chance he had was if Anderson slipped and fell on his head and knocked himself out, even then Anderson showed he wanted no part of a fighter with superior grappling. Forrest is another brawler but that was definitely a God like performance!!! Damian Maia was another example of someone Anderson had doubts about fighting, lets also not forget Maia was really the first guy to back Silva up a few steps with strikes in the UFC. Many people still believe Anderson acted the way he did to piss Maia off to entice him to brawl. Not the story he gave of being pissed at Maia. Notice Silva is sort of giving off the same vibe leading up to this fight. Chael of course is still up for argument, would it have been the same type of fight if Chael wasn't on TRT or did Chael have the perfect gameplan? All that being said, only half on the fighters he has faced in the UFC are still on contract with them and only 3 are ranked in the top 10 in their divisions. I think Silva is p4p top 3 for sure. Best striker in MMA behind Overeem.

I have to look at it the opposite, With Rich it was complete domination and it forced him to move up to 205. Leben and Griffin showed his pinpoint accuracy and amazing head movement, i still watch that **** almost monthly to this day (against forrest). With Leites and Maia he's just fighting his fight and not divulging into their game which is smart of a champion. It's about winning fights and taking the title from the champion, he's already proven he's the best, now it's time for a challenger to test his skill. Cote wouldn't indulge in Anderson's movement and blitz him and some of the knee's and punches he landed in that fight were amazing! I think Chael did have the perfect gameplan whether Anderson was hurt or not, he just made a mistake and payed dearly for it. Henderson, IDK what to think of that guy after his loss to Shields. I for one totally didn't agree with Leites or Cote getting a title shot, they were not all that worthy in my opinion, but the UFC didn't have much of a choice. Bottom line is it's the challengers job to take the fight and the title to/from the champion. Anderson's achilles heel has been shown and thats takedown defense against a dominate wrestler and being controlled on the ground. i think GSP is the perfect fit to beat him despite a size difference becausehe's got the wrestling, the quickness, and won't sit in his guard all night. He'll attempt to pass to a dominate position and reduce the threat of being submitted.

Wow now this is a discussion! i will agree with @bklettke about gsp giving him trouble because he does have amazing wrestiling  and I really hope that that particular superfight comes about. How bout after GSP defends his belt against Shields? Chills to think about it. Now I also agree with @caymanfighter about how Silva may have been given some of his opponents. I believe that Leites and Cote definetly did not deserve their shot at all and Silva may have been so bad against them to show he was not happy with the ufc's decision of opponents. Chael has said that he pretty much had to beg to get his title shot though he did show that he deserved it and I believe that Maia deserved it as well, albeit that he was a one-dimensional fighter. Now this is why I believe that Silva should permanately move up to 205. He has shown that he prepares and trains for these fights way better than for his actual title defenses and since his last fight was with forrest griffin he should only be fighting top tier opponents. These would include Bader, Jones, Machida, Evans, Rampage, and of course Rua. Hopefully this may come about soon. One can only hope

Very true bklettke on all points, but then the question has to be asked, "Why the hell has the Okami fight been put off so many times?" I do think he has been protected in certain ways just not on the level other fighters have been, I think Okami has the type of wrestling and strength to pose serious problems. He now even has a striking game that can at least help with some sort of defense and transition to takedown. Okami has even worse English than Anderson and one of the most boring but effective gameplans in the business but he is always pushed to the back of the line because of his inability to sell a fight, he is supposed to be the number 1 contender yet you dont even hear Dana mention him, you hear more about the GSP vs Silva superfight which GSP himself said is probably about a year away if at all possible because he would like to put on "proper weight". Why aren't they using this opportunity to give Okami a little hype by at least stating he will be fighting Saturdays winner and have him make predictions or something that all the media events they have going on. There is no reason the winner of this fight shouldn't be fighting Okami in Brazil in August unless they are injured in this Saturdays bout. I dont completely agree GSP has cleaned out the welterweight division either, Condit, Lytle, Kapmann, Sanchez, Fitch, Penn, are all in the mix at 170, I think if he crosses two of those guys off the list he has solidly locked his place as greateset WW ever and should make the move to 185 permanently!

I hear you on the Okami argument, the UFC has definately played the business model and went with selling tickets over giving Okami his due shot. If i remember didn't he earn #1 contender status a couple of years ago as well before he had an injury? And then was pushed in to the backround. I think it's BS. If anything they should have Okami fighting the winner of Silva/Belfort in Brazil because its the champions native country and if it is Anderson the crowd would be insane being Okami is the last guy to "technically" defeat Anderson. Dana recently said in an interview they are looking into going to Japan, which would be another good time for Okami to get his title shot.

On the GSP subject: I would think it's a gambe because of your point where GSP would like the "time" to put on the proper weight, meaning Silva would in all likeliness another fight in the meantime, which is risk for the Superfight. I can't see Anderson waiting a year for GSP to put on the weight, he's 36 now. As far as WW contenders. Condit trains with Team Jackson, although i could see him moving camps to fight GSP, Lytle is still a win away in my opinion if he beats Condit. Kampmann hasn't shown he's worthy and Sanchez recently moved back to Jacksons gym which most probably rules out a fight with GSP. Penn should never get a 3rd ass kicking, and Fitch is worthy of h the next shot if he beats Penn. I'd like to see the winner of Condit/Lytle fight  Ellenberger IF he wins for a title shot to get some new blood into the mix instead of giving GSP all these rematches.

not wanting to turn the topic of this thread to GSP but its hard not to when talking about Silva nowadays. I see what you are saying about the Team Jackson issue, but there have been many rumors about that situation now that the gym is so stacked. Keep in mind GSP recently fired his manager and S&C coach, he is pretty much doing a complete overhaul like he did after the Serra loss. The majority of GSP's camps are now at Tri Star Gym and with John Danaher out of Renzo's Academy. Team Jackson is spread across a few gyms such a the Grudge facility in Colorado. If you play close attention to Team Jackson fights you'll notice each fighter has a different corner with the exception of always having Jackson as the lead. For instance if Condit or Sanchez did get the fight I see Greg Jackson not cornering either side. Firas would corner GSP and another one of the Jackson coaches such as Winklejohn would corner the other Jackson fighter.