I suppose he never really dominated striking from a points perspective. Just re-watched the Makdessi fight-- the fight was fairly even until he caught him with the head kick. Seems that peak Cerrone just always found a way to land the leg kick KO or end it on the ground.
But it still feels like he lost a bit of pop since then. Even comparing the Story fight to the Lawler fight, I just don't think his reflexes are the same. Against Story he was sharp and quick, and whenever Lawler applied pressure he had no answer. Granted Lawler pressure is > anything Story does, but when Lawler took all of round 2 off for rest and Cerrone had his shot to tee off it did seem like his combinations were a bit less explosive than they were against Story.
Maybe I'm wrong, but the Lawler fight was by far his best in his past 3, and there was still not much to like from that performance.
The guy has fought a million times while missing half of his intestines and stomach...that's gotta make it tough to age gracefully. And maybe he was never that special outside on his feet outside of that explosive leg kick anyway.