…nation I fight, one with foremost record-holder? (8)
I believe the answer is:
djibouti
'foremost record-holder?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'nation i fight one' is the wordplay.
'nation' becomes 'dj' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'fight' becomes 'bout' (as in a bout in boxing).
'one' becomes 'I' (Roman numeral).
'dj'+'i'+'bout'+'i'='DJIBOUTI'
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for djibouti that I've seen before include "East African republic" , "Country in the Horn of Africa" , "foreign port" , "African country" , "Republic between Eritrea and Somalia" .)