Burke Wyatt (Johnny Messner) is a hardened ex-cop with a seasoned history of extreme and over-the-top methods during his time with the police, but having been dismissed for the past three years after drastically subduing a criminal, he wades through a rough stretch in his life; separated from his wife (Charlotte Ross), he plays a part-time father to their only son, Tommy (Uriah Shelton).

Waiting outside a police precinct, he assaults an officer and steals his squad car, then purposely surrenders himself, and once sentenced, is transported to the prison in a bus with other convicts.

Not long after arrival inside, Burke brushes with some of the more dangerous inmates of the prison, almost landing himself in fatal situations, and eventually crosses swords with Milton Kennedy a.k.a.

Burke's steel is then tested when he must defend himself against a lowly group of cons, but his prowess only attracts the interest of Warden Golan, who only sees in him a new addition to his league of fighters.

Soon, FBI suspicions are confirmed when Burke is plunged into a cruel, sadistic world of life or death duels where he finds himself forced to compete for the warden and his guards in the blood sport that he was drafted to expose.