In the actual UFC these guys train for months just for one fight that could last only a few minutes. But it’s not based anywhere near the real world. They try to connect this movie to modern competitive fighting and the history of jiujitsu, saying that Honsou’s character trained with the Gracies. There’s another underground fight circuit called The Beat Down, where he hopes to compete against that asshole. Doesn’t he know that you learn how to fight only to not ever use it? That’s how it’s supposed to work. Next thing you know he’s defying his mom to get intensive fight training from Djimon Honsou, and defying Honsou by using the training to fight outside the gym.

It goes without saying that at first Jake tries to avoid the fight but is tricked into it and gets his ass kicked and must get his revenge and learn to never back down. And what he wants is a fight with the guy from the Youtube video so he lures him to a huge mansion/pool/beach party and baits him into a fight.

Of course the biggest asshole at the school (Cam Gigandet) is their underground fighting champion and is treated like a rock star, walking around with a bunch of worshipful yes men and being able to do whatever he wants. And they actually have a thriving co-ed community of competitive mixed martial artists, so they’re impressed by his skills. The kids at his new school in Orlando know him from a Youtube video of a fight he got into during a football game. His dad died drunk driving, he blames himself, gets in fights, his mom had to move, but he knows the answer nobody else knows in English class. The hero, Jake Tyler (a buffed up Tom Cruise lookalike named Sean Faris), is your standard troubled-new-kid. It’s based partly in the tradition of kickboxing movies, partly high school movies, although there’s not a part about a nerd being taught how to be cool by dressing different or taking off their glasses. It’s almost exactly the slick, dumb, commercial vehicle you’d expect FIGHTING would be. NEVER BACK DOWN is a much cheesier movie than FIGHTING. When I reviewed FIGHTING recently the commenter ‘a’ suggested I see this as a comparison, so I did.

The rest of the movies in VERN’S BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIAL will be more specifically about school, but this one is about underground fighting within the world of high school teens, so I think it counts.

Never back down trailers