Pleased individual by starting oafish row with fierce fighter (9)

I believe the answer is:

gladiator

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'fierce fighter' is the definition.
'gladiator' can be an answer for 'fighter' (gladiator is a kind of fighter). I'm not certain of the 'fierce' bit.

'pleased individual by starting oafish row' is the wordplay.
'pleased individual' becomes 'gladi' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'by' becomes 'at'.
'starting' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'oafish row' is 'or'.
'gladi'+'at'+'or'='GLADIATOR'

'with' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gladiator that I've seen before include "Roman prize-fighter" , "Gold tiara (anag.)" , "one entering the ring" , "Roman arena fighter" , "picture" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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