See, I don't like this idea that Cloud was so helpless and he only put up a fight by Sephiroth's good graces. This guy had already killed Sephiroth once by pyrrhic victory, and once handily with his friends. And how he's stronger than he was in either of those prior encounters. All things being equal, Sephiroth IS stronger, no doubt, and Cloud is fighting desperately while Sephiroth is calm. Sephiroth is in control of the fight, absolutely. But that's not the same thing as a mouse completely at the mercy of a cat that just plays with it. And I don't buy that Sephiroth knew with 100% certainty that Cloud would dodge this at 3:14:
Or this clear swing at Cloud's head at 3:33
To say nothing of dropping half a fucking building on him and being so sure one lucky I-beam wouldn't take him out.
Had those slashes been aimed at Cloud himself, that would have been the end.
So then why not just lop off an arm or a leg Monty Python-style and have his monologue? I have no trouble believing that, given an opening, Sephiroth would have avoided a fatal blow to simply cripple him and gloat, I mean, that is what he does by the end of the fight in ACC. But that the entire match was planned out in his head the whole time and he was making specific, incredibly dangerous maneuvers somehow knowing Cloud would defend them so he could get to that point? I don't buy it. And it would rob me of my enjoyment of Cloud's fight. To see him fight desperately while being outmatched, but not hopelessly so, is a lot more enjoyable than watching him chase a carrot on a string.
Again, by the end, when Cloud is clearly gassed, sure, Sephiroth is relishing a bit, it's clear how he was ready to see the original Omnislash with a parry for every strike. But I mean he uses that knowledge of the move to run him through, a usually fatal blow. One that Cloud has survived before, which Sephiroth acknowledges, before running him through 8 more times, and Cloud STILL manages to parry two of the strikes! And I think it's because he's damn strong, and not because Sephiroth...you know, didn't quite want to hit him
10 times so just deigned to let him block two. Bullshit.
As for the telekinesis thing, I never know what to make of that. Sephiroth has never really been shown to use it in combat. Not even in other appearances like KH or Dissidia. The only time he seems to ever even try using it offensively (as in, directly on a person, I would say dropping the Shinra builing was an offensive use of it, lol) is against the party at the end of the game when he's in full god-transformation, and they overpower it. It might simply not be his style no matter who he's fighting.