Ehh, being able to kill a guy and opting not to also asserts your dominance.

You could even say he dominated him during the klingon civil war, when he refused to kill the son of duras. That was him disobeying Klingon heritage and cultural norms by rejecting Gowron’s prompt to kill the boy.

“Fuck you, I don’t do what you tell me” is a pretty dominate stance.