Rory was stunned by someone with really good distance control. Every time he settled in, Thompson would throw his lead leg to the body. Thompson also throws his lead leg to the face very effectively, making it extremely difficult for Rory to to just rush in (great way to get your jaw broken). You could bullrush with your hands up covering your face like what Shogun did vs Machida; but Thompson also throws a front hook kick which would come around the guard and hit you on the side of your head (I'm sure Firas studied this).
Whenever Rory would actually get into his striking distance, Thompson would hit him with a combo and move laterally out of the way. There's nothing more Rory could have done here; he was the slower fighter and he had started to take a lot of damage.
When you say, where was the flash, where were the spins; you can't simply throw a hook kick out of nowhere. For one, Thompson and Rory were mostly standing in an open stance, meaning Thompson would have to switch his stance before throwing a hook kick (which he attempted once). When Thompson did switch stances to immediately attack, Rory did not come forward, so Thompson attacked with a roundhouse instead. If Rory had come forward, I believe Thompson would have thrown a hook kick off his back leg. This is called trap fighting. You can only react if your opponent falls for the bait.
Throwing a back leg hook kick off the line is pretty tricky. If your opponent is coming forward too fast, you run the risk of your leg wrapping around too far passed him (exposing your back). If your opponent has a decent push kick (teep) and they are able to read your spin, they can time you and push you down as you are spinning. Rory is not a novice, and not someone you can simply throw "spinning sh*t" at.
