The 32-year-old was making his return to the Octagon after 15 months away, and was fighting as the undisputed heavyweight champion for the very first time.
Headlining the show at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, the Salford star was accidentally double-poked by his opponent, the 35-year-old Gane, forcing him to stagger to the side of the cage and request medical attention.
Aspinall told the referee twice that he could not see, and upon review from Octagon-side doctors, it was decided that the bout would be forced off, just four minutes into the first round.
The Briton had been bloodied by the challenger early, with Gane taking the initiative in the opening exchanges, looking for kicks and evading a takedown attempt as Aspinall sought to find his range and rhythm after such a long period out.
But when he was receiving treatment – given the standard five-minute timeout by the referee – the Abu Dhabi crowd began to boo, and they voiced their annoyance at the result as Bruce Buffer confirmed the no contest over the microphone.
Speaking afterwards, Aspinall was furious with the fans, who had cheered him so vigorously as he made his way to the cage, sporting Union Jack trunks to the tune of ‘Supersonic’ by Oasis.
“Guys, I just got f****** poked knuckle deep in the eyeball,” Aspinall said.
“What the f***? Why are you booing? What am I supposed to do about it? I didn’t do the f*** poke. I can’t see.
“This is b*******. The fight was just getting going, complete b******* and I am p***** off.
“I can hardly open my eye. Look, look, look at this!” Aspinall said as he peered at the replay of the incident. “Double poke, both eyeballs. What the f*** is this?”
Gane himself was furious at the early stoppage, being told by the referee to compose himself before the result was announced.
The no contest means that Aspinall will retain his title, especially after he had made the better of the early exchanges.
“I’m feeling sorry first,” Gane said. “Very sorry about that for the crowd, for the fans, for everybody.
“Sorry to Tom, and I’m sorry for myself. We put a lot of energy into this fight, so I am a little bit disappointed, but this is sport, this is life.
“Exactly the same as what I did [before]. We prepared for this fight really well. I don’t know what’s going to happen for the future, but we will see.”
It remains to be seen when the rematch will be for this encounter, but there will certainly be a lot more on the line next time around, with Aspinall even more fired up than he was before the initial bout.