As i've said many times, I consider 1.9 PvP "Friendlier" to players. 1.8 was a matter of who got the combo first. I'm not saying you can't get consistent comboes in 1.9, but it can be easily countered, and you don't get as much hits on a player. I loved shredding players with comboes which had 15-20 hits consistent in 1.8, but the change was necessary. They did it mainly to acquire more audience. After all, Microsoft didn't buy Mojang for the fame.
One of the things they forgot about the change to 1.9 PvP was fishing rods - They don't work the same anymore and they are useless in combat. And the fact that it takes the place of more useful items such as swords,blocks,tools and armor.
1.8's combat system was super competent. There were TryHards everywhere, wrecking any player who wasn't competent enough. 1.9 made sure that every player had a chance.
There were styles of clicking, for example jitterclicking,hitterclicking(though it wasn't possible)and butterfly clicking... Some people loved to keep their sensitivities low in order to keep the combo going... it was just complicated. In fact, Minecraft's PvP aspect was something made by the players, and never intended by the creators of the game.
Minecraft was supposed to be a open-world sandbox game. It would help players show what's on their mind and present their creativity. PvP was not touched upon until 1.7. where the knockback was changed a tad. 1.9 had brought the new changes.
I would take 1.8 over 1.9 any day, but 1.9 is the PvP mode that is going to takeover someday.