Superman couldn't stay out of jail.

Superman in this story is Steven Peterson, a mixed martial arts fighter from McKinney, who fights Friday night at Dallas' The Bomb Factory in Legacy Fighting Alliance's premiere event.

Fans recognize Peterson because of the big Superman tattoo across his torso.

He got the tattoo on his 18th birthday because people told him he walked around like he had an S on his chest.

"I would get in fights, keep my chin up in the air and keep talking smack," Peterson said.

But Peterson's kryptonite was getting into trouble. He can't remember how many times he's been in jail. He loved to drink, party and brawl.

"I was a hard-headed kid and really didn't care where I ended up," he said. "I had no direction. Didn't have any goals. People asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I had no answer."

One day during his junior year at McKinney High School, Peterson was driving and a police officer tried to pull him over.

"I didn't want to listen to cops," Peterson said. "I disrespected authority."

So Peterson didn't pull over. He was arrested for evading police.

Under house arrest, Peterson had nothing to do. He got permission from a probation officer to make a trip to a boxing school at a garage down the street.

It was a moment, his father Tim Peterson said, that might have saved his son's life.

Most martial artists train many months or years before entering the cage. After 30 days, Peterson took his first amateur fight. It didn't go well.

1 / 3Steven Peterson celebrates after beating Caio Machado by submission during Legacy Fighting Championship 38 at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas Friday February 13, 2014. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News)(Staff Photographer) 2 / 3Steven Peterson climbs the wall of the ring to celebrate beating Caio Machado by submission during Legacy Fighting Championship 38 at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas Friday February 13, 2014. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News)(Staff Photographer) 3 / 3Caio Machado (left) reacts as Steven Peterson is announced winner after their fight by submission during Legacy Fighting Championship 38 at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas Friday February 13, 2014. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News)(Staff Photographer)

"I went out swinging, got taken down, pounded on, got slammed, pounded on some more," Peterson said.

Peterson looked in the mirror after the loss and saw bruises and black eyes.

"That's when I realized that's what I wanted to be," he said.

Tim Peterson saw it as a way for his adrenaline junkie son to channel his passion.

"I saw how the discipline would help him," Tim Peterson said. "He trained instead of partying on the weekends. It's hard to run five miles with a hangover. If he didn't have a ride to the gym, he would run all the way to the gym."

Fighting helped keep Peterson out of trouble, but it didn't cure him of it.

In 2011, his son, Keison was born. Four months later, Peterson violated his probation and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

"It broke my heart," Peterson said. "I couldn't let [my son] see me behind bars, and I told him I wouldn't be back there."

As if the experience gave him super powers, Peterson hasn't gotten into trouble again.

Now 26 years old, Peterson teaches fitness and kickboxing classes and flourishes as a fighter and father.

"MMA gave him discipline; being a parent gave him maturity," Tim Peterson said.

His father paused for a moment.

"Without it, I feel like he would not have made it. The partying, the fast cars, all that doesn't go too well. He would have ended up killing himself or getting killed. In a lot of ways, it saved his life."

MMA fighter Steven Peterson and his son Keison in an undated photo. (Courtesy: Peterson family)

Peterson, who trains at Fortis MMA in Deep Ellum, won the Legacy Fighting Championship bantamweight title last year. He's known not for his lengthy martial arts or wrestling background, but for his guts and determination. Peterson surprised many when he put Manny Vazquez to sleep with a rear-naked choke to win the belt.

"When the ref pulled me off, when [my coach] lifted me on his shoulder, that was the rise of the Man of Steel," Peterson said.

Legacy Fighting Championship recently merged with Resurrection Fighting Alliance to form LFA. The new organization, with a national broadcasting deal on AXS-TV, aims to be the major feeder league into the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world's No. 1 MMA promotion.

A victory Friday night in LFA's first event could put Peterson in line to get a call up to the UFC.

But important to Peterson is he wants to tell his story so it can help others.

"I don't know that I could be any prouder," Tim Peterson said of his son. "There are a lot of things I love about the kid. He has grown tremendously. He wants to help other people by seeing his story."

Legacy Fighting Alliance 1

When: Main card begins Friday at 8 p.m.

Where: Dallas' The Bomb Factory. Tickets here.

TV: AXS-TV (in the D-FW area on AT&T U-verse Ch. 1106, Charter Spectrum Ch. 770, DirecTV Ch. 340, Dish Ch. 167, Grande Ch. 880, Time Warner Cable Spectrum Ch. 299, and Frontier Ch. 569.

Main event: Leandro Higo (17-2) vs. Steven Peterson (14-4) for banatamweight title.