Yeah but the thing is Hooker's strength is fighting at range. That's his only style. He's a very lengthy guy with a diverse kick arsenal, used to training with high-level strikers. He was also coming off a vicious KO of Gilbert Burns that still looks amazing considering how good Burns is. His confidence was riding extremely high into that matchup and I'm sure both him and his coaches thought he could hang with Edson in this type of fight. If you rewatch some of his interviews post fight, Hooker doesn't dwell as much on doing things different, he was more in shock at the power, speed, and timing and said it was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Could Hooker have pressured more? It seems like he tried, but it's not really his game. No different than telling Edson to pressure someone in my opinion. That's not how they fight. It's kind of hard to reinvent the wheel ahead of one single matchup.
You are spot on about Pettis. Pettis' inability to adapt range and lack of footwork cost him big against Edson. The only way Pettis wins fights is by catching you with kicks at range, or slipping in a sub in a ground war. He got fucked up by Edson in kicking range and Edson had no intention of playing ground game with him.
