Well, he did beat Ocelot in a gunfight, and that's Ocelot's most treasured skill. You could argue Ocelot let him win, but I still think it counts. As for that, I really don't know.
I'm not sure if I'm sold on that AD either, but I suppose it does make sense. And if he caught up skill-wise, isn't that a skill feat for endgame Old Snake too? Besides, I believe Ocelot "became Liquid" through self-hypnosis or something like that, which means I Ocelot's intelligence-related feats might not scale to Liquid Ocelot.
As for pointing a gun at him, yes, but do consider his mental state. He was clearly broken by the fact he knew he had to kill himself, and now his old foe and mentor comes back from the dead? That'd make anyone hesitate, and the move Big Boss pulls on him is something that more or less equally skilled CQC users can pull on each other- you and The Boss can do something similar to each other in the final fight. The reason I say BB was stronger than Snake is that the latter wasn't wearing his sneaking suit( which, by his own statement that Otacon agrees to, also serves as a "muscle suit", giving him extra strength) in that scene, while he did against Ocelot. Don't get me wrong, this isn't waterproof, but I think its enough grounds for a "possibly" at least.
Edit: My bad, the sneaking suit was destroyed by the microwaves. That said, Ocelot *was* dying from FOXDIE from the first time they met after the chase scene with EVA, while Big Boss had just met Snake for the first time, and was therefore less affected.
But Raiden is also probably a whole lot faster, which is just as important in such a fight, and the two directly clash their blades one against the other multiple times, which ends in a win for Raiden every time unless you **** up the QTEs, which does imply strength did play a part in that fight. As for the quick draw, he uses it mostly at a distance in that fight, which means Raiden's possiby superior reflexes could definitely see it coming and parry. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's massively more skilled than Raiden, but I do think everything else being in Raiden's favor is enough to say that Raiden winning doesn't necessarily prove he's more skilled. In their first clash, Sam himself realizes Raiden's problem is not his lack of skill: "Self-taught... and not half bad!", but "You deny your weapon its true purpose!" (Not that I'm denying Raiden doesn't grow in skill throughout Rising)
I'm not sure if I'm sold on that AD either, but I suppose it does make sense. And if he caught up skill-wise, isn't that a skill feat for endgame Old Snake too? Besides, I believe Ocelot "became Liquid" through self-hypnosis or something like that, which means I Ocelot's intelligence-related feats might not scale to Liquid Ocelot.
As for pointing a gun at him, yes, but do consider his mental state. He was clearly broken by the fact he knew he had to kill himself, and now his old foe and mentor comes back from the dead? That'd make anyone hesitate, and the move Big Boss pulls on him is something that more or less equally skilled CQC users can pull on each other- you and The Boss can do something similar to each other in the final fight. The reason I say BB was stronger than Snake is that the latter wasn't wearing his sneaking suit( which, by his own statement that Otacon agrees to, also serves as a "muscle suit", giving him extra strength) in that scene, while he did against Ocelot. Don't get me wrong, this isn't waterproof, but I think its enough grounds for a "possibly" at least.
Edit: My bad, the sneaking suit was destroyed by the microwaves. That said, Ocelot *was* dying from FOXDIE from the first time they met after the chase scene with EVA, while Big Boss had just met Snake for the first time, and was therefore less affected.
But Raiden is also probably a whole lot faster, which is just as important in such a fight, and the two directly clash their blades one against the other multiple times, which ends in a win for Raiden every time unless you **** up the QTEs, which does imply strength did play a part in that fight. As for the quick draw, he uses it mostly at a distance in that fight, which means Raiden's possiby superior reflexes could definitely see it coming and parry. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's massively more skilled than Raiden, but I do think everything else being in Raiden's favor is enough to say that Raiden winning doesn't necessarily prove he's more skilled. In their first clash, Sam himself realizes Raiden's problem is not his lack of skill: "Self-taught... and not half bad!", but "You deny your weapon its true purpose!" (Not that I'm denying Raiden doesn't grow in skill throughout Rising)
Ocelot never adopted Liquid's personality, it's made clear at the end of MGS4 that it was all just a 4-D chess move to outsmart the patriots, and the reason Snake managed to catch up to him skill-wise (and power-wise possibly) is Accelerated Development, which he got from Naked, this is part of the CRT and pretty much unambiguous, much more evident than Raiden's RPL (The Boss literally tells him "You've gotten stronger", "your skills have improved" throughout the fight). They weren't really slugging each other at the beginning of the fight tho, they use many techniques from many different martial arts, it only turns into a slugfest at the very end, when they are both exhausted. Big Boss outskilling Snake is definitely an anti feat, Snake was prepared (he was pointing his gun at him) and was very clearly fighting back. Snake was also most likely NOT inferior to him physically, since they were around the same physical age at that point; it's worth remembering that Big Boss was also suffering the effects of FOXDIE. But it's not just the anti feat, it's also that he got fodderised by Ocelot, who's AT BEST comparable to Big Boss in terms of skill.
We know because if Sam was more skilled he would have won. Ap is kinda irrelevant in HF Blade fights, where either opponent can kill the other, so it's mainly a skill struggle, and if Sam was more skilled he would have been able to outmanoeuvre Raiden at some point and land a killing-shot.
While Raiden was indeed stronger and more durable, Sam did have the Iaido quick draw to even the odds. So the thing is not that Raiden could have won by being less skilled, it's that Sam would have had more of a shot by being more skilled, simple as that.