Fulgore doesn't have a specific starting move, he can basically do anything in his arsenal but the finishers, which are supposed to be used when the opponent starts being low on health, although it could be game mechanics.
CQC is gonna be bad for Leon, mostly because he's fighting with a knife, when Fulgore has his long claws on both hands, and due to being a robot, Fulgore is likely to suffer less from cutting and stabbing, if compared to Leon.
Other close-range option at Fulgore's disposal are its Chest Spark and eye lasers, which can also be used if Fulgore was to be caught in a grappling contest.
Even becoming invisible is an option against which Leon doesn't have reliable counters afaik.
Skill-wise I don't know how to properly compare them. Leon's very skilled and I remember his fight against Krauser in RE4, but Fulgore's really deadly as well, since it's on par with
Jago and
Orchid, on top of being meant to be better than its previous version.
I'd say Leon's more advantaged from the distance, since he's very good at shooting, carries several weapons and has done things like
dodging lasers coming at him.
But even then, Fulgore has its own options to reply, which are its own projectiles (Laser Storm and Eye Laser) and the ability to reflect bullets with Electro-Flect (which can also reflect physical attacks, like Spinal's skulls and Sabrewulf's bats).
He could also turn invisible and/or teleport to dodge and close the gap or, depending on the situation, use its first No Mercy to use its dual machine guns.
