I think that chip on normals in MK9 is too strong (obviously this is coming from someone who never even fought a real person in MK9, so that could be some utter trash right now).
MK9 seems to have faster specials than normals (and in a game like SF4 it's the opposite), so by the look of it one could say that chip damage only on specials would already be strong enough. Adding chip damage on normals seems to be way too much. Of course comebacks are way more hype that way, but because of that you see less comebacks, which are often crucial for the hype-meter of a game.
I personally think it's the wrong design-decision, but I also do say that I'm not experienced in the slightest to actually judge that.