Shoutouts: What-ifs, NFL finances and the LeBron James of the NHL

Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki in a pivotal event in MMA history

Some end of the week shoutouts to pieces that caught the eyes of Bleacher Report editors:

Matthew Saccaro took a great idea and executed it well with a slideshow about the 25 most compelling what-ifs in the history of MMA.

Sacarro looked at 25 pivotal moments in the sport’s history—the first sanctioned MMA fight, back in the ’60s, for example, or Chuck Liddell’s win over Tito Ortiz in their first fight—and imagines what would have happened if things had gone the other way. That is, in those examples, what if MMA had caught on in the ’60s or Ortiz had beaten Liddell at UFC 47.

This idea could be adapted for any sport, any league, even any team.

Caleb Garling dug into the NFL’s finances in the wake of a report released by the WR Hambrecht+Co Sports Finance Group and offered up five different ways to look at those numbers.

And Detroit Red Wings featured columnist Franklin Steele took a detour to basketball, sort of, with a meditation on the NBA’s biggest star: Why the NHL Is Better off Without a LeBron James-Sized Ego.

Steele stakes out a controversial position—wouldn’t the NHL kill for someone with LeBron’s popularity, even as a heel?—and writes it well.