Former UFC fighter and "The Ultimate Fighter 10" cast member Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson reportedly is leaving MMA for professional boxing.

The fighter was a backyard and bare-knuckle brawler whose fight videos earned him a big underground following.

Gary Shaw, the boxing promoter who eventually inked Ferguson to the now-defunct EliteXC MMA promotion, told ESPNNewYork.com that he now has a boxing deal in place with the fight and that "Kimbo" could debut by year's end.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) could not immediately reach Ferguson or his representatives for comment.

However, according to the ESPNNewYork.com report, Ferguson is working with California-based trainer Clemente Medina and is expected to debut sometime between October and December. Shaw thinks a successful run could have Ferguson poised for title contention within six or so fights.

Time, though, isn't on Ferguson's side. The fighter turned 36 years old back in February, and as we saw on "TUF 10" and his brief time in the UFC, he's struggled with knee and conditioning issues.

On the MMA circuit, Ferguson (4-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) found mixed success. With a string of favorable matchups, he went 3-0 under the EliteXC banner before an embarrassing and nationally televised 14-second TKO loss to late replacement Seth Petruzelli in 2008. But a year later, the UFC took a gamble and geared an entire season of its reality series around him. (Producers initially sought fighters in three weight classes but opted only for heavyweights once Ferguson was secured.)

Ferguson lost to eventual show champion and former IFL title-holder Roy Nelson in a first-round matchup on "TUF 10." But on the undercard of the show's live finale, he scored a unanimous-decision win over Houston Alexander to avoid a contract termination. That release, though, came this past May when Ferguson suffered a second-round TKO loss to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113.

Some pundits panned the UFC for releasing a still-marketable fighter, but "Kimbo" hasn't fought professionally since the Mitrione loss.