Homelander *is* a bully and he's well stronger than 99% of the opponents he faces but in a real fight against a peer rival he not only manages to hold his own but dominate his opps pretty skillfully.
Homelander knows how to block and counter attack, he has excellent footwork and surprising fortitude in combat. He is able to take a beating from multiple opponents and keep his cool before finding a way to dominate the fight and regain control.
Look at his fight with Soldier Boy and V'ed up Butcher. He smashed both of them simultaneously and only fled when it became a 3v1. Homelander only NOPE'd out after getting caught off guard and shaken up too much. If Homelander was blood lusted, the guy would have stomped Soldier boy's guts out low mid diff.
Or Homelanders fight with Maeve. Dude dominated her through sheer skill and if he wanted she would have been royally f**ked but Homie was in a good mood that day and was more concerned for Ryan than getting into a scrap with anyone.
Stormfront fought Kimiko and her brother who were waaaaay weaker and she still struggled to handle either of them. She won that fight through sheer brute force not skill.
Her fight with Maeve proves that Stormie hasn't the foggiest idea how to defend herself in an actual fight and she froze up like a deer in headlights after Maeve rocked her. I wouldn't be surprised if she started crying after running away from that fight. Total contrast to Homelander who can very surprisingly hold his own. If Homelander wasn't as powerful he still would have been a good warrior. Stormfront without her powers would get flattened by a 12 year old easily.
