Finishes depend on who is across the cage
A fighter's finishing rate is not purely a reflection of their own power or skill; it is heavily shaped by how durable, well-conditioned and well-coached their opponents happen to be. A fighter who moves up in competition level and starts facing tougher, harder-to-finish opposition will often see their finish rate fall even while their overall skill is improving, which makes raw finish totals a misleading way to compare fighters across different levels of competition.
Control without a finish is still work
Dominating a full round of position, output and pace without producing a stoppage requires the same underlying skills that a finish requires; it simply means the opponent survived them. A fighter who wins every round clearly on scorecards across a full fight has demonstrated sustained superiority for far longer than a single explosive sequence does, even if the fight lacked a dramatic finish.
Damage avoided counts too
An honest assessment of a fighter's skill weighs not only what they did to an opponent but what they prevented an opponent from doing to them, since a fighter who wins by decision while taking minimal damage has arguably performed better than one who finishes an opponent while absorbing heavy punishment along the way. Judging skill by finishes alone ignores half of what happens in every fight.