Yeah, functionally 'unable to fight' and 'dead' are the same here, so if an opponent can inflict the former state there's no need to force the latter, and at least in some cases characters should really be able to surrender if it fits their personality. Forcing the skill severely penalises a few characters as well.
I'm actually reminded of the Superman versus Saitama One Minute Melee. Not that their result is in any way definitive*, but it fit the narrative they had going and it ended once one side had no chance of winning. Actually Death Battle could really stand to do more with their narrative and the character's personalities, it would make fights a lot more entertaining.
Any other similar shows I should check out? Bare in mind that I'd prefer sprite battles over poor 3D animation (although I may check out this live action one at some point).
* We're talking about two characters with upper limits of 'undefined'.