Question about The Octagon

In the plot summary here on the IMDB it says Scott James is plagued by memories of the death of a friend on 'a mission'. I just watched it and there was no mention of it, no flashbacks of a friend or realisation of who killed him (just some flashbacks to childhood training), what's the deal? There's a reference to him not competing anymore after injuring someone, but I didn't notice any suggestion that he was in some sort of special forces or mercenary outfit that went on missions (though it would explain his connection to McCarn) and nothing to do with him realising who'd killed his friend (though AJ obviously dies at the end).

Have I seen some weird edit of the film or is the plot summary wrong? I saw this as a kid but can't remember if it was different to the version I just watched.