The difference between Kenshi and Kabal is that Kabal has way more options than Kenshi. With Kenshi, yeah, he's armored as fuckall, but he does not have a low projectile with knockdown, nor does he have a full-screen armored launcher into full combo + free pressure. At least with Kenshi, you know the gameplan, but with Kabal, he can rush you down or keep you out, and as soon as you adapt too much to one style, he can check you to make sure you're still respecting his other options.
I will say, though, that this matchup approaches 4/6 on the smallest stages.