Vegeta wins when Goku fights him.
In the battle between Goku (Kaio-ken) and Vegeta, the latter emerges victorious.
Against Goku (Kaio-ken x2), Vegeta wins.
Despite his victory over Vegeta, Goku’s body was in excruciating pain when he used the Kaio-ken three and four times.
Vegeta vs. Goku: Vegeta vs. Vegeta (Great Ape Form)
Goku (during his time on Earth recuperating and training with Dr. Brief before coming on Namek) vs. Vegeta (during his time on Namek before Goku’s arrival) = Vegeta was probably stronger than Goku for a good chunk of their time on Namek, while Goku was on Earth resting, but as Goku completed his training, he overtook Vegeta.
When Goku was still recovering in the isolation chamber, Vegeta was more powerful than him in the fight against Frieza in his final form. However, once Goku had fully recovered, his power had once again surpassed Vegeta’s, and it had beyond them even further when he became a Super Saiyan.
Goku vs Vegeta (Battle Hour 2022 Opening) pic.twitter.com/zyLFhshIBY
— DBHype (@DbsHype1) February 19, 2022
Goku (who would come home from Planet Yardrat) vs. Vegeta (who, after failing to find Goku in space, returns to Earth) = Goku. Since Vegeta hasn’t yet completed the Super Saiyan change, Goku continues to be the superior fighter. Goku, on the other hand, is fully capable of transforming into his Super Saiyan Form at command and has perfected the Instant Transmission Technique.
After three years of training to combat the Androids, Vegeta and Goku are on equal footing. Goku was the first to fight an Android, and he easily defeated Android 19 until the heart virus began to take effect. If I’m nearby, nobody kills Kakarot, Vegeta says to Android 19, saving Goku from certain death at the hands of the android’s attack.
The death of Android 19 is quick and painless for Vegeta, who has also evolved into a Super Saiyan. Dr. Gero manages to evade capture, rousing Androids 17 and 18, who promptly destroy him before reviving Android 16. When Trunks kept insisting that they need Goku to beat the Androids, it irritated me since, as far as I could tell, the Androids were already defeated by that moment, and it didn’t matter if Goku helped or not.
The result of Vegeta versus Goku, once he has completed his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, is Vegeta. Goku has only recently finished recovering from the heart illness, so he hasn’t had a chance to practice in the time chamber. Even Androids 16–18 are too much for him to handle. Vegeta is superior to Semi-Perfect Cell, which is more powerful than all those Androids combined.
Goku vs. Vegeta (After Goku Trains in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) = Goku. Vegeta, in his hubris, let Cell go free so that he might consume Android 18 and become perfect. Vegeta was defeated by Cell when his wish came true. Because of his research, Goku is now able to master the Super Saiyan Form and achieve Full Power Super Saiyan. Vegeta, like Trunks, was aware of the limitations of the higher Ascended Saiyan levels, which is why he stopped at the first level instead of continuing on like Trunks.
Goku (after 10 days of training outside) vs. Vegeta (after finishing his second round of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) = Goku. Even though Vegeta’s strength has improved, he is still no match for Goku. The Babidi Saga mentions this chasm as the location of the second battle between Goku and Vegeta.
Seven years of training for Vegeta equals seven years of training for Goku. Since Goku was stronger than Vegeta in the Cell Games, everything I said earlier holds true here as well. Seven years later, they’ve both been training, meaning the distance won’t close unless either Goku stops or Vegeta begins to catch up.
A match between Vegeta (Majin Vegeta Super Saiyan 2) and Goku (Super Saiyan 2) would be a draw. During Goku’s fight with Yakon,… After seeing Goku use his Super Saiyan 2 powers, Vegeta knew his own were inferior. After seeing how much stronger Spopovich become compared to the previous tournament, he made a decision in private to surrender to Babidi’s influence.
What he saw Babidi’s Magic do for Spopovich, he knew it could do for him, too. With his newfound abilities, he is now on par with Goku’s Super Saiyan 2 form, and he has reverted to his previous ways as a ruthless warrior who is motivated just by his might and not by any sentimentality.
In their fight against Kid Buu, Goku and Vegeta were essentially equal. When Vegeta fought Goku, he achieved his goal, and for much of the fight, Vegeta was superior to Goku to the point that the bout may have ended in his favor or in a draw. Goku, however, was holding back his true might; had he activated his Super Saiyan 3 potential, he would have defeated Vegeta. But he refrained because he didn’t want to hurt Vegeta’s pride or cut his time on Earth short.
Both of these feats were accomplished because he used his Super Saiyan 3 transformation to defeat Fat Majin Buu, buying Trunks enough time to travel to West City and retrieve the Dragon Radar. And the other occurred when King Yemma, realising that Majin Buu was no match for the most powerful fighter in the Other World, sent Vegeta back to Earth to face him again.
While in the Other World, Vegeta learned that Goku can use the Super Saiyan 3 transformation, which angered the former champion. Vegeta was hopeless against Kid Buu, but Goku had to look good anyhow.
For instance, Goku was the first to fight Kid Buu, also as a Super Saiyan 2, and he fared much better than Vegeta, who, although being on par with Goku in his Super Saiyan 2 form, only managed to land 3 hits on Kid Buu. However, when Goku faced Kid Buu as a Super Saiyan 2, Buu didn’t put forth much effort and soon became bored. However, when Goku evolved into a Super Saiyan 3, Buu once again put out his full effort and went toe to toe with Goku.
Dragon Ball Z’s final episode pits Vegeta against Goku, and the outcome might go either way. If Vegeta was able to evolve into a Super Saiyan 3 in the intervening decade between the previous and final episodes, then he would be stronger than Goku. Just because Vegeta didn’t reach the third stage of the Super Saiyan transformation isn’t an excuse for him to call Goku superior. The Trunks/Gotenks fusion produced a Super Saiyan 3, therefore I don’t see why Vegeta couldn’t do the same.