croy_00 - Your boss comes in and asks if you can "finish" the report by 9pm tonight. You say you will try your best, he adds, if you do, you will get a $500 bonus. What do you do?
If you don't overthink it, you will realize how retarded it sounds to say offering a lot of money for a little extra effort is not effective.
Obviously, whether the boss says you'll get a $500 bonus if you finish the report, of says you'll be fired if you don't finish it, I suspect you'll be staying late to get it done. The thing is, though, that if it's a complicated report that requires you to think critically, you'll do a better job if you're not offered the $500 bonus.
Regardless of whether or not that might sound retarded, all the evidence I'm aware of points to it being true.
Having said that, I'm not convinced this analysis can be applied to fighting. As Kirik already touched on, a big part of success in MMA depends on hard work in the gym in the weeks and months leading up to a fight. A fighter's dedication to his training isn't really the sort of creativity/critical thinking based task that's being looked at in the research cited by the OP. Rather, this has more to do with his motivation, which is something that I think financial bonuses can actually be effective at promoting.
Similarly, while creativity and the ability to think on your feet are helpful in a fight, I'd say qualities like determination and a will to win are just as important, if not more so. And again, these have more to do with motivation and desire than they do with critical thinking or creativity.
So, while I don't dispute your point that financial bonuses tend to produce detrimental results when it comes to areas like business and academia, I'm not convinced by your argument that the same holds true for fighting.
Fertita's run this like a business, and I'm just pointing out modern business idea's/theory's. I agree this isnt going to translate word for word, it never will to any business they are very different but I think it could lead to some interesting discussions/enlightenment on the subject.
jdb2414 - you're a fool if you don't think a well designed, performance based compensation structure is more effective than a pre-determined salary/bonus.
You are correct sir. The point is how you compensate them, and it doesn't have to be money. There are more effective things that bring better better performance.
I really think the argument lies in whether running an MMA organization is a fairly complex business that might not line up 100% with the traditional business world. After reading a lot of opinions on the board about it I'm starting to lean in the direction that these principals wont apply to the UFC, but I still like the discussion =)
Kirik - Dunno about creativity and fighting, but I know as a fact that the possibility of bonus money makes guys train harder than they would just for the announced money.
thats sad,i gotta give the fighters more credit,i think they train hard for every fight .they may change their game plan.
as wovito said make it a finish bonus.that will make for better fights and
let the amount be known before the fight..then all fighters have a shot even the undercard 8/8.
i say throw in a extra million a show.,10 fights at 100,000 if all end in a finish.
dana can still pick fight of the night,and the eveyone else knows what they will get