Luffy had recovery/stamina issues but performance wise he dominated both, having stalling capacity that is a great counter to Luffy's weakness doesn't necessarily mean they are the same strength level.
Luffy made Big Mom's bug out in shock and Kaido freaked out with his growth rate hallucinated yonkos and stronger behind him.
Wait and see until the end of the arc. If he was "nowhere near" he wouldn't be able to pummel Kaido around and put him down for a few pages, performance wise he was superior to Kaido Dragon mode and had to be timed out to lose.
Would you say he was "nowhere near" Doflamingo as a result of round 1 where he was timed out of G4 in similar situations?
Would you say he was "nowhere near" Doflamingo as a result of round 1 where he was timed out of G4 in similar situations?