The cases are incomparable. Aubrey was no innocent, and the others insisted on escalation, as they expected compliance, until he saw no other way out.
I've seen this claim made several times. I think what you means is "saw no way out short of getting arrested by the police."
In fact, there was one option that would have allowed him to do that and which was less dangerous than what he did. He could have simply kept running. Clearly the fat McMichaels couldn't have stopped him short of shooting him, and I think it is highly unlikely they would shoot him in the back.
I have now come to realize what motivated Arbery wasn't fear, it was anger. He lived a thug life, and if you had any knowledge of this mindset, you know these people aren't going to let anyone "punk" them.
The McMichaels were trying to "punk" him, and he wasn't going to take it.
If you doubt me on this, look at the two videos of him interacting with police during his shoplifting confrontation and that confrontation in the park. Arbery is belligerent and just daring the officers to start some sh*t with him.
One officer said he was going to use his taser on Arbery, but it malfunctioned.
Arbery wasn't cornered, he decided to fight because he was a thug, and that's what a thug would do.