Which raises the question: what is the prupose of H-bridge drive? Single-ended drive would achieve the same.
Even that "single-ended" would have a diode; it's still a switch, just an automagic one:
* Turned on when the MOSFET turns off;
* Turned off when the MOSFET turns on;
* Also turned off when motor current reaches zero in low-load conditions (this is what prevents braking); using a MOSFET you can keep it on for negative current.
Typical purposes for using a MOSFET switch are, as you say, (regenerative) braking, but also just decreasing the diode Vf loss, which can be quite significant in low-voltage converters which run in low RPM, high torque conditions (low duty cycle, so diode conducts most of the time, at high current).