Jake manages to pass a few of Roqua's physical tests as well as impressing him with his willpower and is accepted as his student. Max Cooperman, after befriending Jake, introduces him to MMA and gets him connected to the MMA instructor Jean Roqua.

Ryan easily and brutally defeats Jake, and video of the event circulates the school which leaves Jake humiliated. Initially refusing to fight, Jake readily agrees to fight Ryan when he makes fun of Jake's father's death.

Later on, Jake is invited by classmate Baja Miller (whom he develops a crush on) to a party where he is unwillingly pulled into a fight with the MMA champion at the school, Ryan McCarthy, who is also Baja's boyfriend. When Jake tries to intervene, he is told off by Max and his friends as the supposed 'bullying' was actually a street kickboxing match. Initially Jake has trouble fitting into his new school and while walking he chances upon Max Cooperman being beaten. He has a rising reputation with the students of his new school due to an internet video of him when he was a football player at his previous school, fighting with an frustrated opponent player who makes derogatory remarks about Jake's father. His father died in a drunk-driving car crash accident, which is the subject of taunting from other classmates. Jake Tyler has recently moved from Iowa to Orlando, Florida with his mother, Margret and younger brother Charlie who is a Tennis star and the move gives him a chance to make it professionally.

Never back down 4