Elena “Baby Doll” Reid, the current flyweight champion of the world in boxing, makes her debut in the world of mixed martial arts against Tammie Schneider.

“I’m a fighter,” explains Reid. “Whether it’s boxing, or MMA, I like to fight.”

Reid becomes the first boxing world champion to participate in an MMA bout, beating Riddick Bowe and Floyd Mayweather to the punch when she meets Schneider at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas on Friday.

“Fireworks in the Cage 4” won't be televised.

Women who are attractive and petite usually don’t fit very well in the fight world, but Reid has spent the past seven years perfecting her craft in professional prizefighting.

So why is she moving to MMA?

“These past two years I’ve tried hard to get a fight in boxing, and it hasn’t worked out,” said Reid, 26, who has the IFBA and WIBA flyweight world titles in boxing. “It was very frustrating.”

In her last boxing match, she fought Shin-Hee Choi, the IFBA flyweight titleholder from Korea. Though Reid hadn’t fought in almost a year, the possibility of rust affecting her in the unification match between flyweight champions didn’t faze her.

Reid obliterated Choi over 10 rounds of one-sided action.

But now she’s in MMA.

“It’s so different,” Reid said. “The training is different.”

Her trainer, Chris Benn, works the corner of MMA super star Randy Couture. In an effort to make his schedule easier, Benn invited Reid to train at Xtreme Couture. She quickly became interested in adding yet another wrinkle to her fighting prowess with jujitsu. Now she’s making her MMA pro debut.

“She’s pretty good, as you can see,” said Dennis Davis, who sported a black left eye from working on takedown defense with Reid.

After more than a year of training in one of the most popular MMA gyms in the country, Reid attracted the eye of Couture and his wife, Kim, who liked the female fighter’s work ethic. They signed her three weeks ago to a contract.

“Randy Couture has been giving her a lot of advice,” said Sean O’Heir, the public relations director for Team Couture. “He wants to make sure she isn’t sandbagged.”

Now with her MMA debut within sight, Reid mentally slips into her fighting mode.

“Most people are surprised by my other side, my fighting side,” Reid said. “In the ring or the cage I’m all business.”

Her business is fighting.

“I only have a few years to do this so I’m taking advantage of my youth,” said Reid, who wants to defend her boxing titles later in the year.

Video   MMA Fight Weekly's UFC 79 preview Dec. 27: Mike Chiappetta and Tiffany Simons preview Liddell vs. Silva, Hughes vs. St. Pierre, and more.

Other boxing world champions, including Tommy Morrison and Ray Mercer, have taken part in MMA exhibitions, but Reid is the first boxing world champion to actually fight in a sanctioned bout.

O’Heir, who witnesses fighters come and go at Las Vegas MMA gym, says he can tell from Reid’s daily workouts that she’s serious about competing in both fighting sports.

“There’s a lot of fighters who go to the gyms and work out, but seldom fight. Not Elena,” O’Heir said. “She’s a real fighter. She wants to fight as much as possible.”

UFC 79
It’s appropriately called the “Nemesis” fight card, especially when you have Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre colliding for the third time. The card takes place Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

The two former UFC welterweight champions are battling to face current UFC champion Matt Serra, who is out with an injury. It was supposed to be Hughes facing Serra.

“I’m just worried about George,” said Hughes, who now has two motivational factors: avenge his loss to St. Pierre and become the mandatory challenger to Serra, his TV nemesis.

In the just-completed "Ultimate Fighter" season, Hughes coached a team against Serra’s team. It was clear that both fighters are not on each other’s Christmas list.

St. Pierre just wants the world title back after losing by knockout last March.

“The loss was the best thing that happened to me,” said St. Pierre, who was dropped by a punch to the chin and quickly pummeled by Serra. “It’s not the best fighter who wins, but who’s the best prepared.”

Jim Rogash / Getty Images The Week in Sports Pictures The nation grieved for those hurt, killed and affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. After one of the suspects was caught on Friday — following a day-long lockdown and manhunt — sports returned to Boston over the weekend.

The Canadian MMA star, who bares a resemblance to movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme, refuses to underestimate Hughes who he knocked out more than a year ago.

“I caught him with a kick to the head,” St. Pierre said. “But he can knock me out too you know.”

In a light heavyweight bout, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Wanderlei “The Axe-Murderer” Silva face each other for the first time.

Somebody’s going to sleep.

“He’s probably the best guy for me,” said Liddell, who loves to use his fists to decide a fight. “I’m a striker.”

Silva seems overly happy to be fighting in Las Vegas. In his last venture in the gambling capital, the Brazilian was knocked out by Dan Henderson.

“I trained four times longer,” Silva said. “It’s a very important fight for me.”