Chap clutching club in bed is a fighter (9)
I believe the answer is:
combatant
'fighter' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'chap clutching club in bed' is the wordplay.
'chap' becomes 'man' (I've seen this before**).
'clutching' is an insertion indicator.
'club' becomes 'bat' (bat is a kind of club).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'bed' becomes 'cot' (cot is a kind of bed).
'man' going around 'bat' is 'mbatan'.
'mbatan' going into 'cot' is 'COMBATANT'.
'is a' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for combatant that I've seen before include "One engaged in fighting" , "Person engaged in fighting" , "Belligerent" , "Soldier" , "one involved in fighting" .)