You're clueless.
It was hardly domination to get on top of a guy and just defend subs and strikes the majority of the fight. He arguably didn't even win the fight with that considered.
And Pettis' tdd didn't even really need to improve from then. He could have beaten Clay the next night via not having Mazzaggatti as ref, it not being in the small TUF cage, and most importantly it not being his octagon debut. He was over-exuberant in front of a new and bigger fan base, choosing to try and finish Guida with every strike, and then not get up instead hit a sub from the bottom no matter how long it took. That's not Pettis' M.O. at all. He fights smart, and gets up after while when given space, like he had repeatedly in that fight from his sub threat.
Not to mention he has 5 rounds in fights these days, not 3.
The people who still put stock in that Guida loss, against 7 wins vs. wrestlers in Zuffa, 5 who are notable; are morons. So are the people who want to extrapolate a few minutes of a feeling out process against Bendo and Melendez, to 25 against Khabib or opponents like that. They are desperately trying to confirm a bias they developed from their first impression being Pettis getting laid and prayed by Guida in his octagon debut. Instead of just admitting they were wrong, they are compounding it by being wrong again and again.
Edit: As far as using the cage now, I don't really buy that. He shut down both of Gil's and Bendo's td attempts in the middle of the cage his last two fights. He's getting stuck up against the cage for a brief period because his opponents know from the beginning if they give him space they're fucked, knee injuries, added size, nerves, feeling out his opponents, and factors like that. Both Duke and Askren requested he get off the cage between rounds in the Melendez fight.
