Fights outside, right beside Spanish river with skilled combatants (8)
I believe the answer is:
warriors
'skilled combatants' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'fights outside right beside spanish river' is the wordplay.
'fights' becomes 'war'.
'outside right' becomes 'rs' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'beside' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'spanish river' becomes 'rio' (I've seen this before).
'rs' after 'rio' is 'riors'.
'war'+'riors'='WARRIORS'
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for warriors that I've seen before include "Men experienced or famous in battle" , "Arrow, sir for the fighting men (8)" , "Arrows, sir, for the fighters" , "They're engaged in battle" , "Men who are mighty in battle" .)