You won't find him online much these days reading what other people have to say about who he fights, how he fights, or what they think about his latest opponent.

"It's not important," he said. "I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. I just want to win."

The well-mannered bantamweight from Woonsocket, R.I., with the million-dollar smile hasn't suddenly turned heel following his loss to Kin Moy in January, but with the pressure to respond to critics no longer clouding his judgment, Soukhamthath (7-2, 4 KOs) will be all business when he returns to the cage Friday, April 25th, 2014 against Josh Killion (10-4) of Ohio on the undercard of "CES MMA XXIII" at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.

"There's no pressure anymore," said Soukhamthath, whose loss to Moy snapped a seven-fight win streak.

"I finally lost. People wanted to see me get tested. Well, I got tested. I know where I stand now. I know where I need to be and what I need to do to make it to that next level, and that's focus on one fight at a time and fight smarter."

The first step toward fighting smarter is to learn to block out all of the outside influences, whether it's criticism from the press, social media chatter or unexpected adversity.

Soukhamthath dealt with it all leading up to the fight against Moy.

It was his first scheduled fight since moving south to begin training with the Blackzillians. In addition to the commute from Florida to Rhode Island during fight week, Soukhamthath also dealt with the death of his uncle, who passed away that weekend, a hardship any fighter would have difficulty trying to block out, let alone one with so much already on his plate.

No excuses, Soukhamthath said.

"I had a lot going on, but I usually separate things pretty well," he said. "Mentally, I was drained, but I still went out there and fought, so I don't have anyone to blame but myself."

Soukhamthath's biggest problem was paying attention to the criticism online, the questions about his record, who he had faced in the past, and whether or not he could compete with Moy, an undefeated prospect from nearby Cambridge, Mass.

"It really aggravated me," Soukhamthath said. "I really wanted to go out there and put an exclamation point on my performance, and that's what I tried to do. I wore myself out. That's the only reason I lost the fight. I really beat myself. I don't think Kin beat me at all. I thought I won the first and second round. His back was on the mat the entire time, but it is what it is. Life goes on.

"I'm sure everyone will agree I always come to fight," he continued. "I don't go there to dance around, or lay and pray, or win on points. It might not always be the smartest thing, but at the end of the day it's what I do, and I'm not going to stop doing that.

"I won't fight emotionally anymore. I'll just fight smarter."

Soukhamthath has grown tired of critics saying he picks his fights -- "when my promoter calls me for a fight, I always say yes if I'm ready," he said -- which might explain why he's facing another tough test next Friday against Killion, a 5-foot-3, 23-year-old vet with eight wins by submission and victories in seven of his last eight fights.

Killion's cut from the same cloth, a throwback fighter who worries less about what his opponent brings to the table and focuses more on fighting his kind of fight once the bell rings.

"I don't do a lot of homework on my opponent," Killion said. "I just do my thing, and what happens, happens. It's going down once we're in that cage."

Soukhmathath recently beat one of Killion's training partners, Corey Simmons, in December, but Killion preferred to keep his training to himself rather than seek advice from Simmons.

"I never ask those guys, 'How did he fight?' or anything like that. I really don't even like watching videos," Killion said. "I'm not going in there with a game plan thinking he's going to fight this way or that way. I'm not going to fight like that. I'm a go-getter, so let's get it."

Despite having won eight of his 10 fights by submission with no knockouts on his record, Killion surprisingly prefers to stand and trade blows with his opponent.

"I like to hit. They always tell me they're going to hit with me, but then it goes the other way," he said. "That's how it's gone my whole career. Once they trade with me, they want to take me to the ground, but I'm an animal down there, too, so it doesn't matter to me. That's why they call it mixed martial arts.

"I'm the little guy, but I'm here to hit. I don't think [Soukhamthath] has ever come across anyone like me. I have a big heart. I hope he has heart, too."

Added Soukhamthath: "I'm taking this fight on somewhat short notice, but I never really stopped training after the last fight. I took a week off and got right back in the gym. The training has been great. I finally feel like part of the team. We're settled in. That's why we moved here. I want to do things the way they do things here. That's the best way to do it."

"CES MMA XXIII" will also feature the return of reigning featherweight champion Rob Font and hard-hitting heavyweight Josh Diekmann.

Tickets are on sale now at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com or by phone at 401-724-2253/2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Coming off an impressive win in January, Font (9-1, 2 KOs) will return to face Tristan Johnson (8-4, 3 KOs) of Nova Scotia, Canada, in the main event. The 30-year-old Johnson has won three of his last five fights, including a split-decision victory over Bellator vet Will Romero in 2012, while Font has won his last eight.

Diekmann (14-5, 10 KOs), a Groton, Conn., native, returns to Twin River with wins in two of his last three fights. Following back-to-back first-round knockout wins in September and November, Diekmann's scheduled three-round bout at Bellator 110 against Manny Lara ended in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke. On April 25th, Diekmann will face Keith "Bad News" Bell (5-3-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Va. Bell has won three out of four since 2013 and appeared on the undercard of Bellator 109 in Pennsylvania.

"CES MMA XXIII" also features the return of fan-favorites Tateki Matsuda and Eric Spicely. Matsuda (8-5, 4 KOs), the Boston bantamweight who's fought everywhere from Maine to Tokyo since his last appearance with CES in 2010, will battle the unbeaten Matt Doherty (3-0, 2 KOs) of Salem, Mass., in what figures to be one of the most intriguing intrastate matchups on the card. Matsuda has lost his last two while Doherty is coming off a submission win over Shaun Marmas in January.

Spicely (3-0) will put his unbeaten record on the line against 37-fight veteran Nuri Shakir (17-20, 8 KOs) of Nashua, N.H., in a three-round welterweight bout. Providence's Spicely last fought in December with a first-round knockout win over Tyler Rose. The 35-year-old Shakir owns wins over UFC vets Tom Egan and Nick Serra.

Also on the undercard, Pawtucket, R.I., welterweight Abe Pitrowski (5-2, 1 KO) will face Samuel Almeida (2-0) of Framingham, Mass.; lightweight Bobby Flynn (4-1, 1 KO) of Mashpee, Mass., will battle Providence's Tundee Odumuso (2-2); and featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (0-1) of Baltic, Conn., will face Manny Torres (2-2) of Hartford, Conn. Two-time Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (1-0) of Peabody, Mass., will face Jordan Espinosa (3-3) of Findlay, Ohio in a three-round bantamweight bout, and East Providence, R.I., heavyweight Eric Bedard (6-4, 4 KOs) will battle Matthew Thompson (18-9, 7 KOs) of Austin, Tex.

-- CES --

"It was one of those things I always thought about," he said, "but never imagined it could happen."

As if often the case in a sport as unpredictable as MMA, dreams sometimes come true, and Johnston's dream of fighting for a title will, in fact, become a reality Friday, March 14th, 2014 when the unbeaten Reading, Mass., heavyweight faces Josh Hendricks for the vacant CES MMA championship at "CES MMA XXII" at Twin River Casino.

Hendricks (19-9, 5 KOs), a 37-year-old Mansfield, Ohio veteran, will have experience on his side, which includes a brief stint with the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), but Johnston (5-0, 5 KOs) has launched his young career with five knockout wins in five fights, making this a must-see five-rounder on a stacked undercard that also includes seven-time UFC vet Drew Fickett.

"I respect Josh," Johnston said. "He's had his run. He's had some great fights, but every fight is different. I'm expecting the fight of my life."

In addition to his appearance on UFC 91 in 2008, which ended in a knockout loss to Boston-based heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga, Hendricks has other ties to New England. He beat Connecticut's Josh Diekmann at Twin River in 2012 and recently fought West Yarmouth, Mass., prospect Juliano Coutinho, who happens to be Johnston's jiu-jitsu coach. Johnston actually worked Coutinho's corner in that fight and has also sparred with Gonzaga, but won't rely too heavily on the input of others when it's his turn to face Hendricks.

"Everyone is different," Johnston said. "When Juliano fought Josh it was a totally different fight because Juliano is real comfortable on the ground and there wasn't much standup.

"We watch a lot of tapes on the people we're fighting and figure out what we have to do and what the game plan will be. Going into a fight, we're always well-prepared and ready to take the fight wherever it goes."

If Hendricks takes it to the ground, so be it, Johnston says, but the 6-foot-4, 257-pound heavyweight would prefer to trade hands with Hendricks given the fact he's won all five of his fights by knockout -- four in the first round. That doesn't mean he's one-dimensional, even if some opponents believe that's the case.

"My ground game gets overlooked because people never see it," Johnston said.

Johnston has worked with Division I wrestlers, most notably former Iowa State Hawkeye Quinn Boyce, and fellow MMA vet Pat Walsh to improve his ground game, which has come a long way since his pro debut three years ago.

One of the rare instances where Johnston had to use his wrestling and jiu-jitsu occurred in his second pro fight in 2011 against Shaun Durfee when he slipped on the canvas on the way into the cage and broke his ankle. In the opening round, Johnston thought he saw an opening for a head kick and tried to execute, but his support foot -- the one with the broken ankle -- gave way and he fell against the cage. Durfee immediately took him to the ground and tried his best to earn a submission, but Johnston held his ground and survived the round.

The fight didn't last much longer with Johnston earning the stoppage 38 seconds into the second round.

"I was fighting on a broken ankle and he couldn't submit me or finish me," Johnston said. "I'm mostly a standup fighter, which is fine with me. I'd rather people see that."

As far as conditioning goes, particularly for a 43-year-old fighter who has never fought past the second round, Johnston isn't concerned, not with all the training he's done since the end of 2013.

"I haven't had any breaks for a while," he said. "My last fight was in January and I trained nine weeks for that, and when that was over I got right back into the gym. I'm not worried at all about my conditioning. Our coaches put us through the wringer here. I'll be ready to go all five rounds."

Johnston's improbable run began more than a decade ago when he began training under Mark DellaGrotte at Siyodtong in Boston. Johnston was one of the school's head Muay Thai trainers, but soon began working -- and sparring -- with established veterans Jorge Rivera, Stephan Bonnar and Marcus Davis.

"I got the itch to fight," Johnston said.

After a long talk with DellaGrotte, who has hesitant at first to let Johnston turn pro at the risk of losing one of his best trainers, Johnston made his debut in 2011. Three years later at 43, he's fighting for a title against a former UFC vet. It's an improbable story, but not an impossible one, further prove that dreams do come true.

"This is what I do full-time now," Johnston said. "I'm looking at this one fight at a time. CES is a real good organization and has taken care of me. I'd love to continue with them, but if Bellator or someone like that gets in touch with me, hopefully I can get to a big show before I get to the point where I have to retire. I'm 43 now. I'm not getting any younger, but I'll keep going until my body tells me I can't."

Tickets for "CES MMA XXII" are on sale now at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com or by phone at 401-724-2253/2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

The main event of "CES MMA XXII" features Fickett (42-20, 3 KOs) battling Providence's Luis Felix (10-7, 3 KOs) in a lightweight bout. Several undercard bouts could steal the show, including the highly-anticipated middleweight bout between UFC vet Thomas Egan (7-4, 6 KOs) of Dorchester, Mass., and Plymouth, Mass., veteran Chip Moraza-Pollard (7-6, 4 KOs) a former Reality Fighting and Bellator contender. Egan, born and raised in Kildare, Ireland, starred on UFC 93 in Ireland.

Looking to keep the momentum going from his win over Chris Woodall in November, former TUF vet Chuck O'Neill (12-6, 4 KOs) of East Bridgwater, Mass., will battle Dade City, Fla., welterweight Roger Carroll (13-10) in a three-round bout. Caroll has won 11 bouts by submission. Lightweight contender Andres Jeudi (5-2, 1 KO) of Somerville, Mass., will face Brendan Rooney (5-1) of Shelton, Conn. 

Also on the undercard, rising featherweight star and Johnson & Wales alum Charles Rosa (6-0, 3 KOs) of Boynton Beach, Fla., will return to Twin River for the fourth time in a three-round bout against Philadelphia veteran Brylan Van Artsdalen (9-9, 1 KO), an eight-time Bellator veteran.

Marshfield, Mass., featherweight Brendan Fleming (3-2) will take on Baltimore's Robert Sullivan (3-1); fellow featherweight Josh LaBerge (8-4, 3 KOs) of Fall River, Mass., will battle Philadelphia's Steve McCabe (6-14, 5 KOs); Tommy Venticinque (0-1) of Warwick, R.I., will face Rick Rivera of Springfield, Mass., in a welterweight bout; and Winthrop, Mass, featherweight Kyle Bochniak (1-0) will aim for his second win of the year when he faces Marius Enache (1-2) of Philadelphia. 

-- CES --