Oh sweet Jesus, thank you Jesus, my prayers have been answered. Yahoo! has the exclusive:

Kimbo Slice, the controversial heavyweight who in 2008 headlined the most-viewed mixed martial arts card in history, will be one of 16 contestants on the forthcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s reality TV series.

Dana White, the UFC’s outspoken president, has repeatedly mocked Slice for his lack of fighting ability…White has called him a “joke,” a “bum” and “not a real fighter,” among other less than kind descriptions. He said that Slice would “get murdered if he fought in the UFC” and suggested that his lightweight champion, 155-pound B.J. Penn, would “annihilate” the 230-pound Slice. The UFC president has repeatedly insisted he would not allow Slice to compete in the UFC unless he won his way onto the show by competing on “The Ultimate Fighter.” Slice has called White’s bluff and will appear on Season 10 of the highly rated Spike TV series, White has confirmed…

His appearance, along with that of former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans as coaches, should guarantee massive ratings.

“It should be interesting, given some of the things I’ve said about him,” White said…

[U]nlike in recent seasons, where the competitors had to win a fight to earn their way into the house, there will be no such arrangement this time. All 16 fighters – Spike and the UFC are keeping names of the others a closely guarded secret – will automatically move into the house…

If Slice is able to advance to the live Dec. 5 finale, with a chance to earn a UFC contract with a win, ratings would likely be the largest in Spike history.

CageWriter is calling this the biggest coup in UFC history due to Kimbo’s mainstream drawing power, and says the boxing rumor was just a red herring. But what does it mean for Kimbo and TUF 10? Well…

— If “Diamond” Dave Kaplan can carve out a UFC career after his stint on the Ultimate Fighter, so can Kimbo. Expect to see Mr. Ferguson in the Octagon at the TUF 10 finale, and at least one more time after that. You have to assume that the UFC is hoping Slice will go on a win streak so they can put him against Lesnar in a monumental, world-altering pay-per-view event.

— Between Rampage, Sugar, and Kimbo…let’s just say we’ll finally have a TUF cast that more closely reflects this great nation. I’m not going to go the hack-black-comic route and list the ways that the house will run differently as a result, but maybe the coaches’ challenge will be a furious game of click-clack.

— Whichever team Kimbo ends up on will be “Team Kimbo,” not “Team Rampage” or “Team Rashad.” Sorry, but the shirts are already made.

— Over/under on the number of terrified TUF castmembers who have to utter the words “chill dawg” at some point: 6

We’ll talk more in the morning…