Elliot Quick (from left), Bobby Swackhamer, and Brad Rea, all of Bowling Green, film a scene Sunday, June 15, 2014, at Hitcents parking garage. (Bac To Trong/Daily News)

A Bowling Green man warded off his attacker with swift punches and kicks in the Hitcents parking garage Sunday night.

In fact, he fought him off at least 10 times.

The man is Bobby Swackhamer, and he is producing and playing the lead in an independent film called “Caged” about a mixed martial arts fighter whose father abuses him. Swackhamer’s attacker in the scene was one of his students. Swackhamer works at High Intensity Combat Sports in Bowling Green.

“I’m acting in (the film) because I know the choreography really well, but I’m also producing it on the outside … to make it as authentic and fun as possible,” Swackhamer said. The film is directed by Brad Rea of Bowling Green, who formed X-Rea Productions.

Swackhamer, who graduated from Western Kentucky University in May, has been involved in martial arts for about 10 years and has worked on other film projects with Rea, also a May WKU graduate.

Swackhamer said he creates fight scenes that are flashy, but not necessarily realistic.

“Some of the fights are embellished for the camera. … Not all fights are always exciting,” Swackhamer said.

Swackhamer said he came into mixed martial arts “by mistake” when he accompanied a friend to a Brazilian jiu jitsu class in Elizabethtown.

“Before I knew it, about eight months later, I was standing in a cage in the middle of Scottsville” competing in an mixed martial arts fight at the Allen County Fair, Swackhamer said.

At his peak, he was working out and training twice a day, six days a week. All that work came to a halt about a year ago when a disc exploded in Swackhamer’s back. At one point, he couldn’t even carry his groceries to his apartment. He has used the past year to slowly recover.

He still gets a few twinges in his back when on set, but Swackhamer said the film means more to him than a fictional story about a fighter.

“This project represents me after almost a year getting back into the thick of things,” Swackhamer said.

The fighting in “Caged” is the same kind people see in Ultimate Fighting Championship games on TV, Swackhamer said. He added that mixed martial arts fighting was accepted in Kentucky sooner than in other states several years ago, but that a lot of Kentuckians still have a problem with the sport and its violence and consider it “combat pornography.” 

Swackhamer and the rest of Rea’s crew are hoping this film will change people’s thinking.

“It’s kind of a love letter to this dark, bloody history MMA has had in Kentucky,” Swackhamer said.

Rea said he got the idea for “Caged” when he was working on another film. He was driving to Hopkinsville and saw a junky, broken-down house with a punching bag out front. The idea sprung from that image.

Although some people may have a hard time getting interested in a movie about mixed martial arts fighting, Rea said the fighter’s story should be something any audience could find appealing.

“It’s not just a fighting story,” Rea said. “It’s more about the story of the father and the son.”

Rea’s crew started filming last week, but he’s not sure when they’ll finish. Because Swackhamer will be traveling to Europe next month, Rea would like to have most of the work wrapped up by mid-July. The crew has and will shoot in various locations throughout the state.

Most of the money for the film is coming out of Rea’s and Swackhamer’s pockets. Rea is trying to get the film fully funded through Indiegogo Inc., a crowd-funding site. The goal amount is $2,150, which will cover travel, makeup, props and other expenses. As of this morning, $286 had been raised, according to indiegogo.com.

The campaign will close June 29. Contributors can give any amount, but there will be gifts for people who give certain amounts, such as access to the film online, a copy of the film, a day on the set or the contributor’s name in the film credits, Rea said.

“Any amount helps, honestly,” Rea said. “If 2,000 people donated $1, there you go.”

Contributors can visit X-Rea Productions’ Facebook page to find the Indiegogo link or go to indiegogo.com.

After the film is polished and edited, Rea will send it to various film festivals. Because of film festival guidelines, Rea cannot post “Caged” on YouTube or any other social media site.

Swackhamer said the film is hard work, but it’s a lot of fun. As the mixed martial arts authority on set, he wants everything to look as good as it can.

“It’s not so much the finished product,” Swackhamer said. “It’s the process of chasing perfection.”

— Follow business reporter Monica Spees on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.