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All "newer" fighters that have spent the majority of the careers in the UFC will have less total fights than fighters from yesteryear. It's not an age thing it's a UFC thing.
Whittaker, Adesanya, etc are never going to have 40 total fights in their careers ever despite being in their earlier 30s.
Hell Jon Jones is never going to have 40 fights in his career even though he's "only" 34. Why? Because he's been fighting for 14 years at this point. The dude is near retirement... because he's been fighting for a long ass time. He's old from a mileage standpoint.
Fighters generally cap out at around 10 years of fighting elite competition, and the simple reason for that is because of the wear and tear your body takes fighting competition that can rip you to shreds. Your body can only take that for so long.
While there is much truth to this, the frequency of fighting is related to monetary issues. Fighters at the top today fight less since they don't need to since they make bigger money. Back in the day even champions would want to compete 5-6 times a year to make as much money as possible, and that meant their records are more bulky.